Private prisons profit by keeping inmates incarcerated as long as possible
Evidence
In arrangements reminiscent of the convict lease system, federal, state, and county governments pay private companies a fee for each inmate, which means that private companies have a stake in retaining prisoners as long as possible, and in keeping their facilities filled. — Davis, Angela Y, Are Prisons Obsolete, 256
Categorization
- DEFINE: Clarifies the fee-per-inmate logic that structurally opposes decarceration.
- XREF: connects to: Corporate profit motives entrench a prison system that would otherwise be obsolete. — Davis, Angela Y, Are Prisons Obsolete, 235; Private prisons require a steady supply of prisoners as raw material. — Davis, Angela Y, Are Prisons Obsolete, 252; Per-inmate fees give private prisons a structural incentive to keep people locked up (+1 more)