In a sweeping two-year investigation, The Associated Press found goods linked to prisoners wind up in the supply chains of everything from Frosted Flakes cereal and Ball Park hot dogs to Gold Medal flour and Coca-Cola
I agree with the sentiment, the way for-profit prisons exist today shouldn’t exist. But I disagree with the implication that ethical for-profit prisons can’t exist.
For-profit prisons today are paid based on number of people incarcerated. They don’t control the incarceration process, so the most profitable option is to keep nonviolent prisoners there as long as possible, which means no early release and extensions on sentences due to “bad” behavior. If they can get cheap labor out of them, that’s just a cherry on top.
The problem is with incentives, not profit motive. If we incentivize correction (early release) instead of incarceration, we’ll get different results. So we should be paying based on capacity, with a bonus for low recidivism. If we do that, I think we’ll see real innovation.
Here, you see exactly why we don’t seen release of petty drug possession prisoners, just as few as possible to be performative.
For-profit prisons shouldn’t exist.
I agree with the sentiment, the way for-profit prisons exist today shouldn’t exist. But I disagree with the implication that ethical for-profit prisons can’t exist.
For-profit prisons today are paid based on number of people incarcerated. They don’t control the incarceration process, so the most profitable option is to keep nonviolent prisoners there as long as possible, which means no early release and extensions on sentences due to “bad” behavior. If they can get cheap labor out of them, that’s just a cherry on top.
The problem is with incentives, not profit motive. If we incentivize correction (early release) instead of incarceration, we’ll get different results. So we should be paying based on capacity, with a bonus for low recidivism. If we do that, I think we’ll see real innovation.