Stocks r up!!
July 22, 2006 8:36 PM   Subscribe

 
Actually, if their SEC filings are to be believed, business isn't exactly booming. Still, $50M/mo revenue is nothing to sneeze at; I could certainly use it.
posted by Heywood Mogroot at 8:43 PM on July 22, 2006


heh, that first line should read "drug laws benefit prison firms."
K I'm gunna actually read the article now.
posted by Citizen Premier at 11:15 PM on July 22, 2006


I know those buildings are meant to be cheap above all, but they have a very arab feel to 'em.
posted by delmoi at 12:50 AM on July 23, 2006


Those are Sprung prefab barns - usually used to house horses, hay, machinery, so perfect for warehousing untermenschen too.
posted by Flashman at 4:21 AM on July 23, 2006


Now the next step is to 'tweak' a few laws. Soon, they'll have the captured immigrants performing the same labor they crossed the border to perform. Their wages then go to the corporations and government, instead of getting sent back to Mexico. Looks like everybody's a winner!

“What’s great about the detention business,” Mr. High of Jefferies said, “is not that it’s a brand-new channel of demand, but that it is growing and significant.”

Don't you get the sneaking suspicion they're trying to come up with a way to lock up everyone who isn't a rich white fella?
posted by i_am_a_Jedi at 5:17 AM on July 23, 2006


i_am_a_Jedi writes "with a way to lock up everyone who isn't a rich"


Nah not really, locking up people demands that you feed them and take some care of them and build a roof and guard them. All of this is expensive and more or less risky business , certainly it is not pleasant. Yet it can be managed , but one can't manage the insatiable hunger for profit combined with lack of effective control and corruption of officials.

Consider that some people think "who cares, they are prisoners so they did something bad so they deserve whatever shit they get" and this kind of pseudo-tought can easily become popular, as it relieves the person from preoccupation and concern ! They are "subhumans" or in a more politically palatable way they are "criminals".

Usually people who think that also think they are never going to be an inmate anytime soon, so they lose track of what's happening to inmates. Add to this that people these days is primarily concerned by what they can do to improve or sustain their lifestyle , so obviously if you have them think privatization=less expense=less tax = less tax on ME , you are closer to winning their support. And there's more..promise them that more privatization means more job positions (more work) , give them hope and they will support your megaprison initiative. Megastadium, Megaprison, what's the difference ?

Except that it is pure bullshit ! Why should a private company share/reduce profits by hiring more people, if they can almost lock people in cages like medieval time ? Or in a less stupid profit scheme, they can have them work and sell their product under market price, thus dumping and damaging law abiding workers, who in turn will ask for more welfare or if none is giving may try to turn to crime, thus maybe increasing need for prison in a circle of clusterfuck.

Certainly it's a slippery slope, because it exploits the failure of some people to respect law and live a decent life ; if you set up a system that profits out of shortcomings and failure, you are creating an incentive for the owners of the prison system to buy officials so that they enact stricter laws, prolong jail time : correction would be detrimental to this profit scheme, so none or ineffective one would be given to inmates. You passed gas ? 2 days in prison OR a fine of $100 , 20 to State and 80 to megacorp because passing gas is an misdemeanor.

Sounds much like corporatism/fascism to me.
posted by elpapacito at 6:13 AM on July 23, 2006


Add to this that people these days is primarily concerned by what they can do to improve or sustain their lifestyle , so obviously if you have them think privatization=less expense=less tax = less tax on ME

Correct, but don't forget that the private prison, unlike the public prison, pays property tax. Towns want to be chosen by CCA; the feeding commences from analogous troughs.
posted by Kwantsar at 7:39 AM on July 23, 2006


How is the American prison population accounted for in the official unemployment figures? If it is not included, has anyone compiled corrected figures?
posted by little miss manners at 7:54 AM on July 23, 2006


lmm: start here.
posted by Kwantsar at 8:53 AM on July 23, 2006


Some people think "who cares, they are prisoners so they did something bad so they deserve whatever shit they get"

Unfortunately, you are right.

Also, what people don't know in large part (concerning immigrant detainees) is that immigration proceedings are civil and not criminal. While some people in held in detention awaiting their deportation proceedings have criminal records, they have all served their time. They have criminal records, but they are not criminals. This is an important distinction. To say that one is a criminal after he has served his time in jail is to completely discredit the criminal justice system. (though I'm not at all saying that it works)

Illegal immigrants, while not in line with the law and subject to removal, are not by definition criminals.

I have been in some of these centers this summer and the detainees are treated like, and somtimes mixed in with, criminals.

The stays in detention range from months to years.

From what I have seen, the main cause of prolonged stays is that ICE officials have a very small presence in the detention centers. Therefore, they badly follow the detainees and, worse, the detainees are completely in the dark as to how long they will stay.
posted by pwedza at 12:31 PM on July 23, 2006


Nah not really, locking up people demands that you feed them and take some care of them and build a roof and guard them. All of this is expensive and more or less risky business , certainly it is not pleasant.

When you pay wages, you must pay enough wages that people can afford food and shelter and to raise a family and all that jazz.

When you imprison them, you can pay shitall wages, feed them very cheap food, provide them lousy shelter, and basically treat them as slaves.

From a corporate viewpoint, prison populations are cheaper and easier to control than a free (as in freedom) workforce.
posted by five fresh fish at 1:48 PM on July 23, 2006


five fresh fish writes "From a corporate viewpoint, prison populations are cheaper and easier to control than a free (as in freedom) workforce."

Yeah in some context that is correct, yet in others (and not insignificant) some freedom or sensation of freedom produces better returns then slavery even if it costs more the returns are more then satisfactory.

Don't buy into the stereotyped capitalist the way it is represent in fine comics like Lucky Ducky
posted by elpapacito at 3:38 PM on July 23, 2006


K: much appreciated!
posted by little miss manners at 4:41 PM on July 23, 2006


Please remember that the article addresses detention, not prison.

Detained immigrants are detainees and not prisoners. Likewise, DETAINEES ARE NOT CRIMINALS.

It is a semantic difference, but very important.

Immigration detention should not be a punishment. We are not punishing people for being illegally in the country. We are detaining them and waiting to remove them.

True, some detainees may have criminal records -- but by no means do they all. To be in detention with a criminal record, one has to have already gone through the criminal process.

All the more reason to treat them humanely, right??

Unfortunately not. DETAINEES ARE PROBABLY THE MOST VULNERABLE POPULATION IN THE UNITED STATES. Their situation is being turned into an industry to the benefit of powerful private interests.
posted by pwedza at 11:51 PM on July 23, 2006


What's ironic is that during the time we're detaining them, they're a drain on the US economy. But when we're *not* detaining them -- that is, when we're allowing them to live here illegally -- they're contributing to it, working, generating more income for the businesses that hire them, paying taxes (yes!), etc.

The only reason I would be against illegal immigration -- the *only* reason -- is that it's basically a form of employment inflation, which allows employers to keep salaries low, which oppresses the working classes. But I personally believe that employers would do this to the best of their ability anyway, and I don't think a change in illegal immigrant policy will affect this either way.
posted by Deathalicious at 3:04 AM on July 24, 2006


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