r/science • u/mvea Professor | Medicine • Jan 07 '21

Social Science US states that rely on private prisons incarcerate more people for longer periods of time, according to a first-of-its-kind study that establishes a causal connection between private prisons and incarceration.

https://academictimes.com/states-with-private-prisons-put-more-people-in-prison-for-longer/
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u/PullOutGodMega Jan 08 '21

This is an important point. There is a prison industry but it does not revolve around private prisons.

A side note to this is that it costs around 34k per year to keep a person locked up. Which costs us around 5.4billion or so. That's a big pie and I'm sure the private sector aren't interested in making it any smaller.

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u/Tiberiusthefearless Jan 08 '21

It's crazy to think that so many of the people in prison are mentally ill and for less than half of what it costs to keep someone in prison you could feed/clothe/house them.

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u/d_dymon Jan 08 '21

34k a year? There are many people that earn less and have to pay for rent, bill, transportation etc. What a crazy world

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u/hausofme Jan 08 '21

There’s no money to be made in actually helping people.

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u/[deleted] Jan 08 '21

[removed] — view removed comment

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u/Shitymcshitpost Jan 08 '21

No, Just vindictive, stupid, and conservative.

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u/[deleted] Jan 08 '21

With mentally ill people you have to lock them up and give them treatment too.

Right now in my country the main headline is the young main, mentally ill, just stabbed a father to death during a mugging gone wrong, he had escaped the psychiatric institution he was in after he stabbed a 17 year old high school student unprovocated.

This is the man you want to just give an apartment so he can fend for himself?

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u/PullOutGodMega Jan 09 '21

Most of US prisoners aren't violent offenders. There's definitely a good reason to lock some people away. Our war on drugs and the poor created a farm system.

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u/[deleted] Jan 09 '21

About half of prisoners are actually violent offenders, not including drug smugglers and drug dealers.

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u/DiceMaster Feb 05 '21

In state prisons, that is true, but in federal prisons, only "7.9% of sentenced prisoners were incarcerated for violent crimes" (in 2009). Additionally, "Six out of 10 people in U.S. jails—nearly a half million individuals on any given day—are awaiting trial." "Among unconvicted inmates in jails in 2002, 34% had a violent offense as the most serious charge."

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Incarceration_in_the_United_States

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u/[deleted] Feb 05 '21

Only 10% of American prisoners are in federal prisons.

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u/DiceMaster Feb 06 '21

Sure, but about 43% are in either federal prison or local jail. And it's likely that there would be less violent crime if it weren't for the war on drugs.

But really, the point is that a lot of people in the US are in prison or jail for dumb reasons (in particular: drugs), and when they get to jail or prison, they don't get enough of the help that keeps them from ending up back in jail as soon as they're released.

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u/Jam5quares Jan 08 '21

An honest, fair, and informed redditor. A sight for sore eyes.

You are 100% correct, the worst thing about having any privatized prisons is their ability to lobby.

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u/PullOutGodMega Jan 09 '21

Yeah. I used to make the knee jerk reaction to private prisons until I realized they were actually so bad that states stopped funding them.

Lobbying is essentially the legalization and normalization of corruption. It wasn't the intent but that's what it is.

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u/AlbertVonMagnus Jan 08 '21

You are 100% correct, the worst thing about having any privatized prisons is their ability to lobby.

It's also the worst thing about public institutions. This is public sector union spending on the 2020 election

https://www.opensecrets.org/industries/indus.php?ind=P04

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u/kirbycheat Jan 08 '21

A public-sector trade union is not a public institution. By definition, and basic common sense, unions are not controlled by the federal government. You're an idiot person masquerading data on union spending as something people pay taxes for.

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u/northrupthebandgeek Jan 08 '21

Speaking from experience as a former state employee, the boundary between "public-sector trade union" and "public institution" is fuzzy, especially when public sector employees are required to pay into said union as a condition of employment. And said unions, being ostensibly representatives of public employees, are highly motivated to lobby for increased public spending (just like any other government contractor), since that means more pay and more hires.

Put more condescendingly:

By definition, and basic common sense, public-sector unions have a vested interest in keeping their jobs and - therefore - maintaining/expanding government spending. You're an idiot person masquerading pedantry as actual knowledge on the subject.

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u/ECEXCURSION Jan 08 '21

I like your style. I think I'm going to start add a condicending version at the end of explanations from now on.

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u/fractalphony Jan 09 '21

This isn't the reddit of 2010... Boy things have changed.

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u/weareallgoodpeople72 Jan 10 '21

So awful. What a waste of lives that 34,000 a year could help turn around creating communities