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Re:At $75K, housing a prisoner in California now costs more ... by CaptainZapp on Friday March 22, 2019 @06:19AM (#19461072)
Why are there private prison companies to begin with?

There are, in my opinion, certain aspects of government, which never should be outsourced for private gain. A prison company being one of the most extreme examples.

Re:At $75K, housing a prisoner in California now costs more ... by europsucks on Friday March 22, 2019 @10:21AM (#19462726)
Why exactly, though?

If other companies can satisfy the needs of the state, why not prisons? You wouldn't mandate that governments should build their own cars, for example?

Re:At $75K, housing a prisoner in California now costs more ... by CaptainZapp on Friday March 22, 2019 @11:15AM (#19463323)
Monopoly on violence [1] is held by the state as it should be, otherwise we have vigilante justice and I think we can all agree that's bad.

In my opinion (and we can certainly debate this point) this should never be outsourced to third party entities. A rent-a-cop in a mall should not have the power to arrest customers (or even search their belongings) without calling the cops.

Outsourcing such functions have the inherent risk that the privat company cuts costs and corners and moreover hires unqualified and cheap staff, which makes a bad situation even worse.

Incarceration of a human being should never, ever be a license to aply additional torture in any way, shape or form. Private law enforcment with minimal oversight is a direct route to such excesses, which should not be tolerated by a civilized society.

You wouldn't mandate that governments should build their own cars, for example?

That's a rather silly analogy, don't you think? Consumer products usually don't violently intrude into the freedom and bodily integrity of other people.

[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monopoly_on_violence

edit : added link

Re:At $75K, housing a prisoner in California now costs more ... by fireant on Saturday March 23, 2019 @04:05AM (#19469531)
US has been glorifying violent vigilantes in popular media for at least 50 years. Vigilante superhero movies are one of the most selling every year.
Re:At $75K, housing a prisoner in California now costs more ... by brewdad on Friday March 22, 2019 @11:53AM (#19463743)
The incentives are all wrong. For profit prisons "growth" model relies on growing the prisoner population. If they manage costs better and, more importantly, produce better outcomes, then we should look to shifting more of our prisoners there. To date, I haven't seen any such data.
Re:At $75K, housing a prisoner in California now costs more ... by europsucks on Sunday March 24, 2019 @08:34AM (#19475968)
The incentives should be "landing a government contract", though? So if government makes "landing a contract" dependent on rehabilitation rates, it could work?
Re:At $75K, housing a prisoner in California now costs more ... by inapis on Friday March 22, 2019 @08:03AM (#19461703)
As a non-American this boggles my mind too. Certain things are not meant for the private sector.