Prison Industrial Complex

The list of the most dangerous cities in America was released by Morgan Quitno Press on Monday, and the winner sits in the heartland of the U.S.

Indiana should feel fortunate after the contract between California and Indiana based prison in New Castle, run by the GEO group, does, in fact, have a stipulation requiring the inmates to be shipped back to California when their time has ended.

The California Department of Corrections has decided which businesses will profit from this practice, as GEO group and Corrections Corporation of America, both, received contracts for three years.

The cost of the "Drug War" has risen to more than $12.5 billion at the federal level according to the Bureau of Justice. One organization that receives a significant amount of this money is the Drug Enforcement Agency, which had a budget of a more than $2.1 billion dollars and employed over 10,500 employees in 2005.

On Friday, Colorado fined six private prisons across the state for understaffing. The combined six had 1,071 openings, and one prison run by Corrections Corporation of America received the largest fine of $83,103. Altogether, the fines total $131,000, according to The Gazette.

Finally, California has decided to do something about the overcrowding in the prisons, too bad what is best for the state may hinder the inmate, as well as other communities. The solution Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger came up with was sending inmates to other states.

The tough on crime era America is currently in has produced a new breed of prisons called the Supermax. These modern prisons allow for officers to keep a close eye on inmates considered highly dangerous through monitoring devices and improved cell structure.

Apparently when private prison numbers fall below capacity they take on more prisoners from other states in order to receive money from the state for allowing them to use the bed.

The average starting salary for a guard in a privately run prison is $17,628 while the public prison guard makes $23,002, which coincides with a turnover rate of 52% for private prisons and 16% for publicly run prisons.

The front page story of the Money & Investing section of the Wall Street Journal today highlighted Corrections Corporation of America’s stock potential. It cites recent trends in the stock that have allowed it to increase over the past year including a 45% rise since January 1.

By the way, ten prisoners from privately run federal prisons escaped this week, four from a prison in Taft, California managed by the GEO group and six from a prison in La Villa, Texas run by LCS Corrections Services Inc. Both of these instances have seen little attention outside of the home state where the breakout occurred.

Private prison's goals contradict with what society wants because the business makes more money as prison sentences rise, as recidivism rates rise and as crime rates rise.

Canada, the butt of many American jokes, and often looked at as United States’ little brother, has a prison system worth taking a look at.

Instead of cracking down on criminals for drug related crimes, we, as a society, need to find ways to help them, as well as rehabilitate them. We will not only help the criminals hopefully lead a productive life, but we will also not have to spend so much of our own tax money.

Corrections Corporation of America and the GEO group own eight of the 16 federal prisons. The New York Times learned on July 19 that the government expects around 27,000 illegal immigrants in a detention center a night by the fall of 2007. Each inmate costs the government approximately $95 a night. So as public prisons fill up the use of private prisons, like the ones owned by CCA and GEO, will have to increase.