Re:Upgrade your jail cell for a price
by Someone1234 on Thursday March 09, 2017 @02:36PM
(#13832536)
> so what is the big deal about some people paying for a better environment?
Because it incentives the private prison to make the situation even worse for those who fail to pay. Effectively the worse they make the "free" the more money they make.
To use an analogy, it is like Amazon Prime, when Amazon Prime first started free shipping was at $25 minimum order. Last year free shipping was at $49. Why? To incentivise Prime memberships. Only competition from Walmart forced them to bring it back down to $35.
So back to prisons... If this became popular, we'd see more prisons who offer zero privacy as the "free" option (e.g. shared bunk beds) all as a means to "incentivise" (blackmail) prisoners into paying for a semi-private or private room.
Plus when you take into account the safety aspect, the whole thing becomes immoral. You're literally forcing prisoners to pay so they can sleep safely at night, otherwise they might get shanked while they sleep (or not get any sleep due to fear). US prisons are already much less safe than most European, Canadian, or AUS/NZ prisons.
Because it incentives the private prison to make the situation even worse for those who fail to pay. Effectively the worse they make the "free" the more money they make.
To use an analogy, it is like Amazon Prime, when Amazon Prime first started free shipping was at $25 minimum order. Last year free shipping was at $49. Why? To incentivise Prime memberships. Only competition from Walmart forced them to bring it back down to $35.
So back to prisons... If this became popular, we'd see more prisons who offer zero privacy as the "free" option (e.g. shared bunk beds) all as a means to "incentivise" (blackmail) prisoners into paying for a semi-private or private room.
Plus when you take into account the safety aspect, the whole thing becomes immoral. You're literally forcing prisoners to pay so they can sleep safely at night, otherwise they might get shanked while they sleep (or not get any sleep due to fear). US prisons are already much less safe than most European, Canadian, or AUS/NZ prisons.