'Justice Is Not For Sale': Sanders Leads Charge Against For-Profit Prisons

[99th_Monkey]

'Justice Is Not For Sale': Sanders Leads Charge Against For-Profit Prisons
'It is morally repugnant and a natcommonional tragedy that we have privatized prisons all over America.'
by Deirdre Fulton, staff writer * Common Dreams * September 17, 2015

With a call to "end the private prison racket in America," a group of progressive lawmakers on Thursday introduced a bill that seeks to subvert the reigning "pro-incarceration agenda" by banning private prisons, reinstating the federal parole system, and eliminating quotas for the number of immigrants held in detention.

"We cannot fix our criminal justice system if corporations are allowed to profit from mass incarceration."
—Senator Bernie Sanders

"It is morally repugnant and a national tragedy that we have privatized prisons all over America," said Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Bernie Sanders, one of the legislation's lead sponsors along with Reps. Raúl M. Grijalva (D-Ariz.), Keith Ellison (D-Minn.), and Rep. Bobby L. Rush (D-Ill.). "We cannot fix our criminal justice system if corporations are allowed to profit from mass incarceration. Keeping human beings in jail for long periods of time must no longer be an acceptable business model in America."

With the ultimate goal of reducing the inmate population in federal, state, and local facilities, the Justice Is Not For Sale Act would, according to a fact sheet:

* Bar federal, state, and local governments from contracting with private companies starting two years after the bill is passed;
* Reinstate the federal parole system to allow "individualized, risk-based determinations regarding each prisoner and restore fairness in the system;"
* Increase oversight to prevent companies from overcharging inmates and their families for services like banking and telephone calls;
* End the requirement that Immigration and Customs Enforcement maintain a level of 34,000 detention beds; and
* End immigrant family detention.

http://www.commondreams.org/news/2015/09/17/justice-not-sale-sanders-leads-charge-against-profit-prisons

[PatrickforO]

1. Sanders is right.

That we should ever have even considered privatizing prisons is morally wrong.

Unconscionable.

[azmom]

2. Sanders leading the charge. Woohoo

Go Bernie

[sabrina 1]

3. Private prisons has to be among the most immoral businesses ever to be allowed to

operate in any country, let alone one that constantly boasts about its system of justice.

But NO ONE I remember in elected office has the guts to raise this issue until now.

How did it happen? What addle-brained Congress ever allowed this abomination to become legal?

I have been reading the horror stories from these horrors for years now, waiting for someone to end them.

Thanks Bernie, you are a rare human being, but what about the rest of our party? Will they support him on this?

If not they should not be calling themselves Democrats.

[99th_Monkey]

7. +100 nt

[kenfrequed]

4. We need reform

Right now we have almost the highest per capita incarceration rate. If that isn't proof of the corrupting effect of industry donations to political campaigns then I do not know what corruption is.

[Enthusiast]

5. Kicked and recommended a whole bunch!

No Democrat should oppose this.

[beam me up scottie]

6. K & R

[LWolf]

8. K & R

[Uncle Joe]

9. Kicked and recommended.

Thanks for the thread, 99th Monkey.

[MoveIt]

10. K&R

[Warren DeMontague]

11. We need to ask who is going to end the drug war, and who is going to try to rebrand it.

When someone is taking lobby money from for profit prisons, what does that tell you?

[99th_Monkey]

12. I hear Hills sold out pretty cheap too.

not even 7 figures. The Clinton peeps will be the first to tell you.

"oh it was only a pittance"

[Warren DeMontague]

13. So what do the private prison lobbyists get in return?

My guess is, SWAT teams going into the formerly legal pot states, to round up millions of new "involuntary incarceration customers"