Private Prisons Spend Millions On Lobbying To Put More People In Jail

[iwishiwas]

When I read articles like this, my heart sinks as there is nothing -NOTHING we can do against the force of money and lobbyists.


http://thinkprogress.org/justice/2011/06/23/251363/cca-geogroup-prison-industry/

Private Prisons Spend Millions On Lobbying To Put More People In Jail

By Andrea Nill Sanchez on Jun 23, 2011 at 12:00 pm

Yesterday, the Justice Policy Institute (JPI) released a report chronicling the political strategies of private prison companies “working to make money through harsh policies and longer sentences.” The report’s authors note that while the total number of people in prison increased less than 16 percent, the number of people held in private federal and state facilities increased by 120 and 33 percent, correspondingly. Government spending on corrections has soared since 1997 by 72 percent, up to $74 billion in 2007. And the private prison industry has raked in tremendous profits. Last year the two largest private prison companies — Corrections Corporation of America (CCA) and GEO Group — made over $2.9 billion in revenue.

JPI claims the private industry hasn’t merely responded to the nation’s incarceration woes, it has actively sought to create the market conditions (ie. more prisoners) necessary to expand its business.

According to JPI, the private prison industry uses three strategies to influence public policy: lobbying, direct campaign contributions, and networking. The three main companies have contributed $835,514 to federal candidates and over $6 million to state politicians. They have also spent hundreds of thousands of dollars on direct lobbying efforts. CCA has spent over $900,000 on federal lobbying and GEO spent anywhere from $120,000 to $199,992 in Florida alone during a short three-month span this year. Meanwhile, “the relationship between government officials and private prison companies has been part of the fabric of the industry from the start,” notes the report. The cofounder of CCA himself used to be the chairman of the Tennessee Republican Party.......................

[midnight]

1. We need a citizens oversite panel to look into this.

[saras]

2. It seems really clear that this sort of lobbying should be outlawed - period.

It's such a flagrant conflict of interest, and it's not just for private gain, that gain is directly based on the unnecessary suffering of others.

[UrbScotty]

3. There ARE things we can - and MUST - do.

We need to vote - not only with our ballots, but also with our dollars.

We need to get progressives we know to consider running for office.

We ourselves need to consider running for office.

We need to tell our family and friends about this bullcrap - and tell them they need to stop putting up with it!

We all need to raise a little hell about this!

[duhneece]

4. Winner Here!!

You are absolutely right. We have had a booth at our county fair where we open up the discussion about the failure of the 'War on Drugs.' I share info about mandatory minimums at local Chamber of Commerce, Health Council, state Democratic Party functions...everywhere I can, I share the injustice of all of this.

Some services should NEVER be privatized; prisons is one of them.