Though the United States has five percent of the world’s population, we house twenty-five percent of the world’s prison populace. This is a staggering figure, and the reason for this anomaly is the rise of for-profit and corporate-run prisons in this country.
China and India both have over a billion people living within their respective borders. China has four people to every person in the States, and India is not far behind with over 800 million more people than the U.S. population. If I were teaching a math lesson to my fourth graders on probability, I would say that the probability of the U.S. having a greater number of prisoners than that of China and India combined would be extremely unlikely, yet this is the truth.
The GEO group is a billion dollar private prison company, and it states on the company website, under the Who We Are tab,
The GEO Group is the world’s leading provider of correctional and detention management and community reentry services to federal, state and local government agencies. With operations in the United States, Australia, South Africa, and the United Kingdom; GEO offers a diversified array of turnkey services which include design, construction, financing, and operations. Our unique approach allows GEO to provide high-quality and cost-effective services with state-of-the-art designs, innovative programs and ground-breaking treatment approach.
This neo-conservative approach to the prison system seeks a perpetuation of high-levels of incarceration around the country, while also lobbying politicians to avoid passing laws that might reduce the current levels of inmates. Dina Rasor has written an article that details the thought process of the GEO group’s management team, and provides an excerpt from the group’s 2011 annual report:
In particular, the demand for our correctional and detention facilities and services and BI’s [a prison industry company Geo acquired in 2011] services could be adversely affected by changes in existing criminal or immigration laws, crime rates in jurisdictions in which we operate, the relaxation of criminal or immigration enforcement efforts, leniency in conviction, sentencing or deportation practices, and the decriminalization of certain activities that are currently proscribed by criminal laws or the loosening of immigration laws. For example, any changes with respect to the decriminalization of drugs and controlled substances could affect the number of persons arrested, convicted, sentenced and incarcerated, thereby potentially reducing demand for correctional facilities to house them. Similarly, reductions in crime rates could lead to reductions in arrests, convictions and sentences requiring incarceration at correctional facilities. Immigration reform laws which are currently a focus for legislators and politicians at the federal, state and local level also could materially adversely impact us.
This is a reprehensible and sinister approach to money-making. There is no reason for companies like this to exist. The shareholders of this company make a pretty penny on each bed that is filled, and the company is so entrenched in the lobbying system that buys Congressional approval that it will take a drastic shift in the overall business model in the States to overthrow such a ruthless corporation. I only hope that I will be around to see the demise of such an unjust system.
Human Beings and Fish 