To: President Donald Trump, The Virginia State House, The Virginia State Senate, Governor Ralph Northam, The United States House of Representatives, and The United States Senate
End For-Profit Prisons
Do we really want a society that is penalized for lowered crime rates, and a judicial system that strives to meet incarceration quotas?
Maintaining a for-profit prison system based on capacity requirements undermines the credibility of a fair judicial system, and may encourage criminal justice officials to seek harsher sentences to maintain occupancy rates required by a contract. The private prison industry fails to protect public interest, and seeks to only maintain corporate profitability at the cost of a “low-crime tax” to taxpayers when crime rates fall.
Maintaining a for-profit prison system based on capacity requirements undermines the credibility of a fair judicial system, and may encourage criminal justice officials to seek harsher sentences to maintain occupancy rates required by a contract. The private prison industry fails to protect public interest, and seeks to only maintain corporate profitability at the cost of a “low-crime tax” to taxpayers when crime rates fall.
Why is this important?
In 2012, the Corrections Corporation of America, the nation's largest operator of for-profit prisons, sent letters to 48 states offering to buy their prisons as a remedy for "challenging corrections budgets." In exchange, the company asked for a 20-year management contract, plus an assurance that the prison would remain at least 90% full. If the state does not maintain the 90% capacity requirement for the next 20 years, taxpayers will be forced to pay for unused prison beds as a “low-crime tax” that essentially penalizes taxpayers when prison incarceration rates fall.
For more information, check out this article appearing in Salon.com:
6 Shocking Revelations About How Private Prisons Make Money
http://www.salon.com/2013/09/23/6_shocking_revelations_about_how_private_prisons_make_money_partner/
For more information, check out this article appearing in Salon.com:
6 Shocking Revelations About How Private Prisons Make Money
http://www.salon.com/2013/09/23/6_shocking_revelations_about_how_private_prisons_make_money_partner/