prison industry complex

[spice756]

Do you believe in the prison industry complex?


Some say the US is a prison industry complex do to so many people in jail than other countries that it is profit nothing but profit.

Many say the drug war like the prison industry complex and now border control is all profit.

The police by border is 2X the than before and so is the FBI and CIA.

[rebelmouse]

when I say Yes, it means that I believe that prisons are industry, not that I believe that prison industry is good. so question is not good formed. :crying:

[S.O.I]

voted "?" although there should be an option that said "???"

[piet11111]

if the poll is about me believing that the prison system is used as a source of slave labor then yes.

[KurtFF8]

It's not really a matter of "do you believe in this" as it is a fact.

Privatization of the prison industry has been a major problem for the oppressed in America for some time now, here are some short videos that are good starting points for anyone interested:

Q3D.com Video:

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www.good.is (http://www.good.is) Video, deals mainly with the fact that most prisoners are non-violent drug offenders:

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And some random, but good 2 minute docu about the subject of privatization of prisons:

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[MarxSchmarx]

Besides directly producing goods and services for corporations, prisons serve capitalism long after their inmates have left their doors. In many societies, they serve as a tool to keep a segment of the working class unemployable.

This means that there is a large pool of ex-convicts who cannot readily get decent jobs. Consequently, employers can bargain down wages or working conditions by threatening to "hire ex-cons" or use prison labor as scabs. Desperate ex-prisoners or prison wardens of course sign on to any crumb they get. And of course the goal of modern prisons is to ensure that those that didn't get the message in school finally understand that following orders from on high is what they are there for.

There is hardly a more ingenious tool of bourgeois class warfare than the modern prison system.

[Reclaimed Dasein]

I highly recommend Foucault's Discipline and Punish. It basically traces the historical origins of the prison system to the change from Monarchical to Democratic power. He also documents how the prison systems have formed a core component of capitalism in both its production and its suppression of revolutionary activity.

[rebelmouse]

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[ev]

People should not be thrown in prison for petty shit like car tickets or pot, things like murder & rape are acceptable in my opinion and inmates in these facilities should work on social projects (contribute to the community whilst serving their time) and be paid for it, some of the money that they are paid should go to the state to support their necessities in prison life and the rest deposited so they have some money to start their lives when they get out. However, most people are in prison due to social & economic conditions and the environment that they are bought up in. A majority of criminal behavior is a byproduct of capitalism & most 'criminalized activities' aren't detrimental to society i.e parking tickets & other petty shit.

[rebelmouse]

social projects are exploitation of prisoners and with abolishing of the state, there is no more reason for existing of prisons. prisons existed before the state only like: private prisons. so, prisons are creation of riches. those riches who succeeded to gather bigger wealth (in bad way) than other and kept other in debt position. who didn't give debt back, he finished in private prison until his family gather wealth to give back. abolish prisons!

[spice756]

Most prison are not privatization but under the state or fed.Only small number use slave labour.

Tent city phoenix Arizona is one that use slave labour.Some prison use slave labour call center or making clothing or wood-working.

All prison have big problem overcrowding .


http://www.cdcr.ca.gov/News/images/overcrowding/overcrowding.jpg (http://www.cdcr.ca.gov/News/images/overcrowding/overcrowding.jpg)


http://graphics8.nytimes.com/images/2006/12/11/us/11prison_paper.jpg (http://graphics8.nytimes.com/images/2006/12/11/us/11prison_paper.jpg)

http://www.cdcr.ca.gov/News/Images/overcrowding/MuleCreek_071906v1.jpg (http://www.cdcr.ca.gov/News/Images/overcrowding/MuleCreek_071906v1.jpg)

http://www.geocities.com/three_strikes_legal/mn_prison_069_mjm.jpe (http://www.geocities.com/three_strikes_legal/mn_prison_069_mjm.jpe)

http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/photos/uncategorized/lancaster_1.jpg (http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/photos/uncategorized/lancaster_1.jpg)

http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/photos/uncategorized/prison_1.jpg (http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/photos/uncategorized/prison_1.jpg)

Some do not go jail do to overcrowding .Look at Michelle Rodriguez DUI she did not go jail.



In March 2002, Rodriguez was arrested for assault (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Assault) after getting into a fight with her roommate.[22] (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michelle_Rodriguez#cite_note-21) The charges were later dropped after the roommate declined to press the allegations in court.[23] (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michelle_Rodriguez#cite_note-22)
In November 2003, Rodriguez went to court to face eight misdemeanor (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Misdemeanor) charges based on two driving incidents including a hit and run (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hit_and_run_(vehicular)) and DUI (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DUI).[24] (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michelle_Rodriguez#cite_note-23) In June 2004, Rodriguez pleaded no contest (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nolo_contendere) in Los Angeles (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Los_Angeles,_California) to three of the charges: hit and run, drunken driving (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Drunk_driving_(United_States)), and driving with a suspended license.[25] (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michelle_Rodriguez#cite_note-cbsnews-24) She went to jail for 48 hours, performed community service (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Community_service) at the morgues of two New York hospitals, completed a three-month alcohol program, and was placed on probation (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Probation) for three years.[26] (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michelle_Rodriguez#cite_note-25)
In 2005, while filming Lost in Hawaii, Rodriguez was pulled over by Honolulu (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Honolulu) police multiple times; she was cited for driving 83 mph (134 km/h) in a 55 mph (89 km/h) zone on Oahu (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oahu) on November 1, and was fined $357, paid a $300 fine for driving 90 mph (140 km/h) in a 35 mph (56 km/h) zone on October 20, was fined $197 for going 80 mph (130 km/h) in a 50 mph (80 km/h) zone on August 24.[27] (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michelle_Rodriguez#cite_note-26) On December 1, 2005, Rodriguez and her Lost co-star Cynthia Watros (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cynthia_Watros) were pulled over (separately) and arrested for driving under the influence.[28] (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michelle_Rodriguez#cite_note-27) Rodriguez pleaded not guilty when arraigned,[29] (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michelle_Rodriguez#cite_note-28) but on the day of her trial in April 2006, she pleaded guilty to one charge of driving under the influence. She chose to pay a $500 fine and spend five days in jail instead of doing 240 hours of community service.[25] (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michelle_Rodriguez#cite_note-cbsnews-24) Rodriguez cited her high doses of allergy-relieving steroids as part of the reason for her erratic behavior.[30] (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michelle_Rodriguez#cite_note-29) Because the Kailua incident was a violation of her Los Angeles probation, Rodriguez was sentenced to 60 days in jail, a 30 day alcohol rehabilitation program and another 30 days of community service, including work for Mothers Against Drunk Driving (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mothers_Against_Drunk_Driving), by a judge in Los Angeles on May 1, 2006.[31] (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michelle_Rodriguez#cite_note-30) Because of overcrowding, she was released from jail on the same day she entered it. As of June 2006, she will still have to serve the community service.[32] (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michelle_Rodriguez#cite_note-31) She wrote about the experience on her blog.[33] (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michelle_Rodriguez#cite_note-32)
In September 2007 however, Rodriguez allegedly violated her probation by not completing her community service and not following an alcohol education program. It was reported that Rodriguez originally submitted a document stating she performed community service on September 5, 2006, but it was later confirmed she was actually in New York City that day. Her lawyer claimed it was a clerical error. [34] (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michelle_Rodriguez#cite_note-33) On October 10, 2007, following a hearing, she was sentenced to 180 days jail time after agreeing to admit to violating her probation. She was expected to spend the full 180-day term in jail, as she had been deemed ineligible for work furloughs and house arrest.[35] (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michelle_Rodriguez#cite_note-34) However, after turning herself in to begin the jail term at the Century Regional Detention Facility located in Lynwood (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lynwood), CA on December 23, 2007,[36] (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michelle_Rodriguez#cite_note-35) Rodriguez was released 18 days later on January 9, 2008 due to overcrowding.[37] (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michelle_Rodriguez#cite_note-36)



Most US money goes army and prisons.



When California sneezes, does the rest of the Union get a cold? That is the question tonight, with the largest state in the U.S. now firmly projecting a $14-billion budget deficit for the coming year (more than double what was proffered a few months ago), and with the state saying it will cut that deficit dramatically via big spending cuts during this weakening economy. The upshot: A recipe for a nasty economic cocktail in 2008/9.

To his credit, Governor Arnold didn't pretend there were any easy answers tonight during his "state of the state" speech (http://www.ksee24.com/home/related/13543327.html). Because there aren't any. Much of California's budget is pre-allocated, leaving precious little to play with, even if he wanted to. And automatic spending increases of 7% and more make the problem worse, with the state marching in law-ordained lockstep into an increasingly ugly financial future.
About the only interesting part? Schwarzenegger didn't blame housing and/or the economy for his problems. Good of him to pretend they aren't playing a role, but they are playing a big one -- which is why the rest of the country should be worried about what he'll do.




Who is making the profit on jails and prisons and who is not? Like wars and the army some one is making profit some how:crying: but others do not.

[spice756]

SACRAMENTO - California's budget deficit will grow to $28 billion through June 2010 unless lawmakers take bold action, possibly including a hike in the state income tax, the Legislature's nonpartisan analyst said Tuesday.
The Legislative Analyst's Office urged lawmakers to act immediately on Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's proposals to close the deficit for this fiscal year, projected at $11.2 billion — about 11 percent of the state's general fund. They include a 1.5-cent sales tax increase and $4.4 billion in across-the-board spending cuts.
The Schwarzenegger administration had projected a $24.5 billion hole for the rest of this fiscal year and the one that runs from July 1, 2009, to June 30, 2010.

But the analyst's office estimates tax revenue will be even lower than the administration expected.
The revenue collapse is so bad that if lawmakers did nothing, the state would face $22 billion shortfalls each year from 2010 to 2014, the analyst's report said.

"With the expected slow recovery of the state's economy, it is imperative that the Legislature attack the grim budget problem aggressively, making permanent improvements to the state's fiscal outlook," wrote Legislative Analyst Mac Taylor.

He said the governor's proposals would address only about half the state's long-term problems.

Taylor proposed raising the state income tax by 5 percent for all taxpayers in 2009. Another option is to boost the licensing fee on vehicles, which Schwarzenegger cut when he took office in 2003. That action cost the state about $6 billion a year.

Lawmakers scheduled a budget hearing Friday to debate the governor's proposals. The legislative session ends Nov. 30.



http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/27665782/



Prison Crisis: Will California Spend More on Jails Than Universities?

As the number of prisoners in California prisons explodes, the state may soon spend more locking up its citizens than on public university education.


Halfway between Sacramento and San Francisco is Solano Correctional Facility, nestled against a series of rolling hills, on the outskirts of the small city of Vacaville. From the prison's guard towers, the view is fairly beautiful: a Mediterranean-type vista of sun-browned grass and squat trees covering green hills, underneath the endlessly deep California sky. But from the windows of the dorms and cellblocks where the inmates live, all they can see is a slender patch of sky.
Inside some of the housing units at Solano, inmates take showers in rooms open to the entire dorm -- including guards, both male and female. As naked men soap themselves off, other inmates go about their business in front of them. Hundreds of men share a handful of toilets, as well as the mildew-and-mold-infested open shower area. "There's maybe 10 operable toilets for 200 guys. You come back from chow in the morning, you stand in line 10-to-20 minutes to use the toilet," says 47-year-old Michael Donoho, a heavily tattooed repeat offender (drugs, robbery, spousal abuse).
Meanwhile, two one-time gyms -- that in better days hosted boxing rings for prisoners -- have served as "temporary" dorms since the mid-'90s. Today they house more than 200 inmates apiece. Prisoners are stacked on row after row of triple bunks, with three feet of floor space separating one bunk frame from another. Nobody expects the gyms to return to their intended function anytime soon.
Safety is also an issue. The top bunks in the gyms are well over five feet off the ground and have no railings around them. It is, according to prisoners, fairly common for slumbering third-tier inmates to roll off their narrow metal beds onto the hard floor during the night.
But the sounds of sleeping men falling aren't the only noises heard after dark. During the long hours of the night, two correctional officers walk the floor and one more stands watch on a raised tier with a gun at the ready. Prisoner representatives from every race sit awake, perched atop their bunks, grimly scanning the walkways in case a rival from another race-based gang decides to launch a small-hours attack.
In the summer, large industrial-scale fans never stop whirring, and when the voices cease in the hours between lights-out at 10 p.m. and the 3 a.m. wake-up for inmate culinary workers, their whir eats its way into the mind. Add in all of the other sounds of a large, security-based institution, and you have the ingredients for mental chaos.
"The whole time I've been locked up, I've never gotten more than three hours of good, solid sleep," says a 46-year-old inmate who is serving a six-year sentence on methamphetamine charges. "Alarms going off, guys running around, cops yelling. It's been a real eye-opening experience."
When Solano opened in 1984, it was intended to hold 2,610 inmates. Twelve years later, five dormitory buildings were added to the original structure, boosting the prison's capacity by a thousand inmates. No additional buildings have been added in the past 11 years, yet the sprawling, gray concrete and razor-wire institution now holds 6,111 prisoners.
On paper, Solano has some of the best vocational training programs of any prison in California, with a metal shop that makes snowplow blades for the California Department of Transportation and a lens shop that manufactures almost all spectacle lenses for Medi-Cal -- the state's more expansive version of Medicaid -- and Medicare recipients statewide. The facility also routinely places soon-to-be-paroled workers in free-world jobs, such as in lens labs and opticians' offices, around the state. But on any given day, Solano has thousands of idle inmates because there aren't enough jobs, education slots and drug addiction treatment spots available for the surplus prisoners.
"We do the best with the resources and staff that we have," says Public Information Officer Lt. Tim Wamble, as he sits in his tidy second-floor office, its window overlooking one of the guard towers. "There's no way you can have 6,111 jobs or seats in classrooms. The rest go on waiting lists. Which means they're hanging out in the yard till something opens up for them."

****
California's experiment in wholesale incarceration is one of the great policy failures of our times. Thirty years ago, California had 12 prisons and fewer than 30,000 prisoners. Today, after a generation of "tough-on-crime" legislation pushed through the legislature and the initiative process -- from three-strikes-and-you're-out to draconian anti-drug and anti-gang legislation -- the state has close to 175,000 inmates living in 34 prisons. That means almost one in every 200 California residents is now a prisoner of the state. (And these numbers don't even include the tens of thousands more prisoners in county jails.) The annual cost to taxpayers is about $10 billion per year, just shy of the amount the state annually puts into its vaunted public university system. If current spending trends continue, California will soon be spending more on prisons than on universities.


http://www.alternet.org/rights/65868/prison_crisis:_will_california_spend_more_on_jails _than_universities/

[rebelmouse]

spise756, all prisons use slave labour if people work inside. count value of work and money which prisoners get for work, it is clear mathematic.
in north EU (germany, denmark, etc) prisoners get 1 euro per hour, it is just about8-10 euro per day. if they work 22 days in month, it is between 150-220 euro.
thats 7-10 times less than workers in factory. plus I must add that even workers in factory are exploited, because their work produce maybe 6000 euro and they get 1500 euro per month. so, if prisoner work produce 4000 euro value/wealth, as you see, prisoners are 10 more exploited than workers in factory. that's clear slavery: economic exploitation. slavery doesn't mean only "man in chains", slavery is also economic inequality. therefore capitalism is just continuation (with cosmetic modification) of roman (slavery) empire.
even professors of law say that present law system in which we are living is based on roman law, roman empire. that's not secret.

[ÑóẊîöʼn]

I misunderstood the question as "Do you support the prison industry complex?" and thus voted No.

The prison industry is one of the most blatant and exploitative aspects of the capitalist system, but they get away with it due to the all-too-widespread perception that prisoners either "have it soft" or that they "deserve it". The fact of the matter is that violent criminals are the minority of inmates (at least in the US - I haven't seen figures for other Western nations) and the especially ruthless among their number "rule" through intimidation and rape. It's ugly.

[spice756]

[quote=NoXion;1323774]I misunderstood the question as "Do you support the prison industry complex?" and thus voted No.

I think we need to understand what is the prison industry complex and who profits and who does not.And how it works.


:scared::scared:

The prison-industrial complex refers to interest groups (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Interest_groups) that represent organizations that do business in correctional facilities, such as prison guard unions (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trade_union), construction (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Construction) companies, and surveillance (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Surveillance) technology (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Technology) vendors, and to the belief that these actors may be more concerned with making profits than actually rehabilitating (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rehabilitation_(penology)) criminals or reducing crime rates (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crime_rate).

Critical Resistance (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Critical_Resistance), a political interest group that seeks to abolish the prison industrial complex, states that, "The prison industrial complex (PIC) is a complicated system situated at the intersection of governmental and private interests that uses prisons as a solution to social, political, and economic problems. The PIC depends upon the oppressive systems of racism, classism, sexism, and homophobia. It includes human rights violations, the death penalty, industry and labor issues, policing, courts, media, community powerlessness, the imprisonment of political prisoners, and the elimination of dissent."[2] (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prison_industry#cite_note-1)

These views are shared widely by critics of the carceral state (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carceral_state), retributive justice (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Retributive_justice), military-industrial complex (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Military-industrial_complex), the War on Terrorism (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/War_on_Terrorism), the War on Drugs (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/War_on_Drugs), militarism (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Militarism) and Homeland Security (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Homeland_Security).

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prison_industry (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prison_industry)


Very little info at Wikipedia .And Wikipedia does a horrible at explaining it.