The Truth about Private Prison Contracts

[rbnyc]

http://www.nationofchange.org/truth-about-private-prison-contracts-1348147617

Vermont— Mecca of hemp-wearing, Subaru-driving, Co-op-loving, Frisbee revolutionaries—is paradoxically gaining attention for its leading role in supporting the private, for-profit corrections industry.

Behind only New Mexico, Hawaii, and Montana, the state of Vermont now houses the largest proportion of its inmates—28 percent—in prisons owned and operated by for-profit corrections firms.

In addition, the volume of offenders diagnosed with a mental illness in Vermont has increased two-fold since 1992. In a recent study by the DOC’s mental health provider, “566 inmates, or 34% of all inmates housed in Vermont prisons were identified as having clinical diagnoses of mental illness.” This figure alone accounts for a substantial bump in corrections outlays, as a recent study emerging from Connecticut demonstrates that state departments of corrections can expect to spend 100% more caring for those diagnosed with a mental illness than for general population inmates.

According to 2007-estimates, Vermont spends $21,199/year on inmates housed in CCA facilities and $45,199 for those incarcerated in the state. If an annual savings of nearly $23,000/year sounds too good to be true, then that’s because it is.

The state of Vermont openly admits that CCA’s criteria for accepting inmates for housing are subject to a number of problematic imitations. They write that “the CCA facilities do not accept seriously physically or mentally ill offenders, or offenders whose behavior is exceptionally disruptive or who cannot conform to rules [and] in many of CCA facilities, the classification system is influenced by host state departments of correction, and has increased levels of criteria for exclusion.”

How convenient.

Whereas publicly chartered DOCs are responsible for ensuring the safety and well-being of every type of prisoner, CCA simply circumvents such obligations by requiring states with which it contracts to retain the least compliant and, therefore, the most financially burdensome, individuals. Private prison firms essentially shift such risk back to state DOCs and taxpayers.

More: http://www.nationofchange.org/truth-about-private-prison-contracts-1348147617

[xchrom]

1. du rec. Nt

[bemildred]

2. It's a disgusting, perverse racket. nt

[goclark]

3. I hate that show "lock up" on msnbc

Is it produced by Rethugs?

[unc70]

4. The charter school effect - re privitization

[Scuba]

8. Bingo.

[99th_Monkey]

5. CCA also requires the "90% occupancy rate guarantee" don't forget

in other words, the state is on the hook for what it would cost if these
private hell-holes are 90% full, whether they are in fact occupied to
that extent or not.
How sick is that?

This has the perverse effect of incentivizing states to incarcerate more
and more people to insure 90% occupancy rate to make sure they get
their money's worth.

[midnight]

6. That's a lot of money... Could you imagine spending that kind of money on a person's salary?

[Uncle Joe]

7. The for profit prison system is a corruptive, dysfunctional and immoral bordering

on evil institution.

It has no upside or redeeming quality and the longer this malignancy stays legal, the more damage it will do to our democratic republic.

Thanks for the thread, rbnyc.

[rbnyc]

9. Exactly.

Thanks.