A couple weeks ago it was reported a sheriff who was underfeeding his inmates so that according to Alabama's state law, any overage was his.
It is unbelievable that this human carnage still exists and Mississippi isn't the only state that lets this happen.When I think about the amount of money that is being spent to house prisoners, just think what it would cost to use that money training prisoner to be productive.
But as I said, Mississippi isn't the only state.
Indeed prisoners throughout the states and indeed the world are housed in a situation a skunk would want to live in.
7
Management & Training Corp? Based on this article a blatant euphemism. Should be renamed Lock Up & Pass the Loot.
4
These are not prisons; these are zoos in which the carnivores are not separated from the herbivores and the keepers are out to lunch. That this has become the "norm" reflects not only the "keepers" attitudes, but ours. What happens to the least of us, happens to the rest of us.
4
We are becoming more like Russia everyday.
7
If you think somehow this doesn't affect you and your life..... you're wrong. This is the unacceptable that is now accepted.... and it will come back to haunt us all I'm afraid.
9
Amazing (not really) story from this most Christian of states. What would Jesus say?
10
Lawyers for the state and Management & Training state: “Prisons are meant to be tough.....We can say — unequivocally — that the facility is safe, secure, clean, and well run,” That says it all......Lie, Lie, Lie. Prisons are tough, but just because they are prisoners doesn't mean you can treat them less than animals--food is terrible-but edible--fine, fights-it does happen, rape--yeah it happens. But a well run prison keeps these things under control and they correct them, not make the situation worse. But if you don't provide a sizeable enough budget, you can't hire qualified, well trained workers; and this is primarily the case--this problem will not be solved until millions and millions of $$$ are lost thru law suits. It's cheaper to do the right thing and budget enough money to cover cost!!! If you want to lock everybody up, then you'd better be prepared to pay!
2
School kids in Mississippi should be shown a "scared straight" type film depicting the private prison conditions. If the kids see what happens when you go to prison, it may deter some from a life of crime.
3
"At East Mississippi, the prison designated by the state to hold mentally ill inmates, there was a glaring lack of oversight of inmate care... Four out of five inmates... receive psychiatric medication, but the facility has not had a psychiatrist since November."
This is cruel and unusual punishment. Mentally ill inmates are by nature chronically ill, and often in pain most days of their lives, even with good care and consistent medication. How can Management & Training be trusted to consistently medicate such prisoners if they have inadequate staffing, supervision, and no psychiatrist? That is beyond cruel. Think about mentally ill people without medication or with the wrong medication. The State is asking for trouble within the prison and when prisoners are released. If they are treated cruelly and violently, they will become more violent and homicidal -- but that is avoidable.
The true measure of any society can be found in how it treats its most vulnerable members. Mahatma Gandhi.
7
I vote for putting Jeff Sessions and Donald Trump in a private prison, along with most of the cabinet.
I'd tend to give Dr. Carson a pass, he appears so lost I fear incarcerating him would be cruel and unusual treatment.
11
Can you imagine what the food is like. Spoiled, over-under cooked, rotten veggies. Once cooked and mixed in with other stuff...
2
The government, nor private industry, is capable of taking physical care of people. We see it everyday in elder abuse by nursing homes and in the home healthcare industry. The VA has been a constant and ongoing source of neglect in caring for our veterans. Managing federally funded human services programs is indifferent and abysmal. Why should we therefore come to expect that it would be any different for those incarcerated? It's an ongoing dilemma for the elderly, poor, uneducated and the incarcerated.
3
For those who are interested in prisons, recidivism and alternate forms of justice, I highly recommend the somewhat recent TED Talk by Deanna Van Buren. Her frank discussion of “restorative justice” is informative, eye opening and hopeful. As an architect and social activist, many of her ideas could go along way toward preventing someone from going to prison in the first place.
5
It should be required viewing that all US citizens watch Michael Moore's "Where to Invade Next" - he shows how various countries (mostly in Europe - broadly defined) provide forl with social needs differently (& much more humanely) than in the US...School lunches, workplace policies, drug laws, etc., etc are covered INCLUDING a segment on Prisons in Norway. They are truly institutions for rehabilitation. This is what is needed here, though maybe then people would realize that providing quality education and health care for all as well as true living wages would mediate against high imprisonment in the first instance...Note how high MI's hideous prison budget is! It is the ugly spirit of judgment that seems to prevent empathy and understanding, helpful ways to help one another.
12
The purpose of a private company is to make money. They do that by delivering the least possible "product" and charging the highest possible price. When the government begin purchasing services from the private sector it usually ends up being very costly and with a substandard outcome. Private prisons, utility companies etc, prove that again and again.
7
When we privatize prisons we are saying that prisoners are nothing better than assets and liabilities on a corporate balance sheet. The moral imperative to rehabilitate and restore prisoners whole to society takes a back seat to endless profit. These private contractors then seek to push punitive laws that allows citizens to be locked up for minor offenses without bail or parole. Prisons begin to be seen as 'hotels' where high occupancy rates are the goal with very little turnover. 2.6 million souls locked away in our country is seen as a lucrative market. Combined with underpaid staff and demoralized inmate prison population then we get terrible outcomes where inmates are treated like cattle that are led to slaughter. To find the character of our nation all we have to do is look inside of our prisons.
6
Prisoners should be protected and treated with respect but on the other hand they put themselves in this situation!
1
You're right, absolutely, but they are doing time in an 8x10 cell with a roommate who takes a dump everyday right in front of them. That's punishment enough. Add the gangs, the rape, the mediocre food (which may be made from spoiled ingredients)--I would say that is enough. But to underfund, undercut funding to save money. Hire unqualified, poorly trained guards who won't even do their jobs. A guy was nearly murdered because some guards laughingly ran away and others took their pure time to help--no that not right--that's not part of the punishment--that's cruel and unusual punishment and it is a constitutional violation.
5
Let's send in Betsy DeVos to handle this problem. She is very enthusiastic about privatizing the public "school to prison" pipeline, even though she knows nothing about public schools. But she surely knows about privatizing public institutions, and I am sure that with a short visit to one of the private prisons, she could speak with facts and figures about the advantage of privatization.Oh wait. Facts are not her schitck. Unless she is reading the bottom line advantage for stockholders in the private institutions.
6
If the State says someone must be detained either because of danger to others or the mad idea “punishment” will correct their behavior, then the State must take direct care of said person.
Imprisonment is, though the only idea people have come up with for dealing with many who violate the law, other than State murder, obscene. No I don’t have a better answer either.
The idea of turning these people over to private terrorists makes simple State incarceration seem a delight.
Interesting article and a good reason not to end up in prison.
1
Where are all the so-called "pro-life" people? They march en masse to protect an embryo, proclaiming how much life matters, but nary a word about this horrendous abuse of human beings already here. My guess is this isn't a big story on Fox news.
7
Phil Ochs had it right.
Here's to the State of Mississippi
Phil Ochs
Here's to the state of Mississippi,
For Underheath her borders, the devil draws no lines,
If you drag her muddy river, nameless bodies you will find.
whoa the fat trees of the forest have hid a thousand crimes,
the calender is lyin' when it reads the present time.
Whoa here's to the land you've torn out the heart of,
Mississippi find yourself another country to be part of!
7
Chain gangs were also "for profit." Imprisoning people is a way to make a buck - and the people making those bucks are allowed to spend $$$ to buy the ones doing the imprisoning. We legalize profiteering off incarcerated people, and we effectively legalize bribery through Citizens United and McDonnell vs US. That is what our country is now. And has been for a while. A sick, racist, humanitarian disaster of a banana republic.
6
In the early nineties I received a call from a senior manager for a private, for-profit prison company offering me a job. As an experienced mental health, chemical dependency program developer and administrator he wanted me to develop and manage a wide array of mental health and substance abuse services at a number of locations in order to "reduce recidivism." Even though the hairs on the back of my neck were standing up, the social worker in me saw an opportunity to make a change for some who were incarcerated. Plus the salary was too substantial to turn down. A few months later, after having created a comprehensive plan, I presented it to the Board of Directors for implementation. What I was essentially told was that there would be no implementation as the company made money based on the number of prisoners (people) they housed and the true goal was to have a plan to include in their marketing prospectus. Finally accepting the fact that reducing recidivism was the last thing they wanted, I had no choice but to resign. I still have trouble forgiving myself.
15
Prison is not meant to be a tough environment. It become that way through neglect.
3
You got that right. Far too many people here and in the USA think incarceration is not enough: humans must be humiliated, neglected and otherwise abused.
2
Our slide as a nation into third world status.
6
Nearly every week brings some new Trumpian anxiety-producing concept. This week, for me, it's privatization. Obama sought to phase out the use of private contractors to run Federal prisons, but Jeff Sessions reversed that. Shulkin claims he was fired because he resisted Trump's plans to privatize many of the Veterans Administration's functions. Betsy DeVos wants to privatize Education, shifting funds from Public Schools to charter schools and religious schools. There has even been privatization talk when infrastructure is discussed, as in private ownerships of roads and bridges.
These four areas - prisons, Veterans' services, education and infrastructure - are very expensive. Tempting as it is to certain politicians to sell off these functions to the highest bidder, it is ludicrous to think that there is enough money in these endeavors to run them successfully with well-trained, effective and skilled employees, excellent care and service for the veterans, academic progress and social/emotional support for the students, safety and the possibility of rehabilitation for the incarcerated, etc., while skimming off profits for shareholders.
Only those of a mindset that worships the corporate/profit ethos over the shared civic ethos of American society sees potential profit when looking at these endeavors. The rest of us think any spare dollars floating around at the end of the quarter should be plowed back into decrepit school buildings, V.A. Hospitals and prisons.
10
This is an old problem. I judged a newspaper photo contest for the Texas Prsss Association back in 1990s and one of the stories was about how Missouri was farming their prisoners out to private prisons. Guards were using dogs to attack prisoners, they would make them crawl through gauntlets as they beat them with night sticks, and a private enterprise was able to make big bucks off Missouri's prison overcrowding (largely in part to thought-free sentencing rules and the "war on drugs.")
5
Not fit for a street dog from Katmandu. There is so much handwriting on the wall showing America's direction that the wall is hard to see.
7
Everybody has a right to defend themselves. Apparently there needs to be a trial between the two prisoners involved in order to determine guilt. The one not at fault should not suffer consequences.
Terrifying but not surprising. America has a long, rich history of horrendous treatment for the most vulnerable among us.
11
Most of the inmates in this prison are mentally ill. How absolutely inhumane to expect people who struggle with human interaction and life in the best of circumstances to "rehabilitate" in the worst of circumstances. It's beyond stupid. It's cruel.
I'm ashamed of this country.
17
Anyone seeking a closer look at how private prisons work should read the excellent reporting of Shane Bauer in Mother Jones - "My Four Months as a Private Prison Guard." Not sure of NYT linking guidelines, but a search engine will bring you that article very quickly.
8
The General contention that the prison guards are paid $12/hr as the basis for the inordinate delay in responding to prisoners plea is rather far fetched.
At this rate one can compare the pay of the President of the US vis a vis CEO of Amazon/Tesla & infer that the nation's border has had to remain porous as the President is comparatively lower paid than Elon Musk or Jeff Bezos.
The impression that Federal Correctional facilities are epitome of Prisoner rights is belied from periodic reports of Prisoners escaping from such so called prison paradises.If it was so good/ideal,why would someone want to hop over.
I am truly amazed to note that Mississippi is spending $9500/yr on Prisoner's upkeep.A large sum of money,indeed.Princely sum.
The prisoner's can be given an option of leaving US & staying in a deluxe hotel in a third world country for the duration of his sentence.
The prisoner is happy,the State is happy & no botheration whether prison guards are awake or sleeping.
Prisons in the USA can be accredited by the correctional association like doctors and hospitals by the AMA. Many cannot achieve that but it provides measures to judge their performance. Send in the ACA accreditation team and require the MCT to hit at least a passing score.
1
Is there any aspect of American society that does not revolve around greed and corruption?! God Forgive America!!
8
Special thanks to the New York Times for shining its bright light on this absolutely horrific example of systematic human cruelty.
This is a system Trump wants to expand and is simply another glaring example of the total hatred he visits upon so many people.
"60 Minutes" did a piece on prisons in Germany and they are the total opposite of this - educational training for inmates, rehabilitation the main goal, intense analysis of inmates problems, normal clothing to wear, etc. etc. - all geared to getting people back into the population. And surprise, surprise, the results have been spectacular.
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/60-minutes-presents-behind-bars-prison/
Only in America is the prison industry sickly viewed as a profit making growth industry.
7
You forgot the UK. We have dreadful private prisons too, though perhaps not quite as bad as yours.
Hopefully when Jeff Sessions is convicted of his many crimes in years to come he’ll get to enjoy at one of the private prisons he’s been so eager to promote.
10
These are privately held prisons but they take taxpayer dollars. Shouldn't the names of the owners/shareholders be public information? I'd like to see 60 Minutes do an in depth story. Make it visual for all to see. Then publish a list of the owners and interview them too. This is the kind of stuff trump wants to do more of? No surprise there. Wherever there is money to be made you will find trump.
9
Certain functions have such deep moral imlpications, they must fall exclusively and sqaurely within the purview of govt.
Such functions include caring for disabled citizens, sending troops to war, incarcerating human beings. (I would also add providing basic health care.)
Privitizing and creating a profit incentive for any of this invites corruption and is a dereliction of govt to its people.
7
And some of the inmates may be serving sentences for crimes they did not commit.
7
Timothy Williams has shown that journalism and the First Amendment are powerful tools to bring social issues to the minds of America. The issue of real meaningful justice in America is a lingering sore upon society that might not ever be resolved.
Thanks for the true story.
52
Unacceptable violence remains a problem in all prisons, not just private facilities. I still remember when MHMR of Houston removed me from the nursing schedule after I reported an issue where an inmate said he was beaten by a guard.
4
In my first post I addressed this article. This time I would like to address the readers.
I want to pose the question as to why we do not demand sweeping changes in our criminal justice system and the way those who are incarcerated are treated in prison or when released?
Why will our government not make parole/probation officers accountable? Why are they not doing the job they are required to do? It is their job to provide help for the parolees/probationers integrate back into society. They are to provide help finding employment, housing, aid, etc. They do none of that.
Why does the government not make it illegal to discriminate against a one convicted person from employment, housing, and many other things?
Why do most hypocritical churches and their parishioners, as well as others, not offer more help to those incarcerated or sponsor a man or woman upon release?
Why is it not mandatory that all state and federal prisoners are offered adequate primary education, college education, job training, drug addiction treatment, mental illness treatment and a host of other things so that when released they have a real opportunity to become a productive member of society?
Until these common sense and overall money saving remedies are implemented do not expect things to ever get better.
10
Because many American citizens, especially those insulated by unearned privilege from the nasty parts of their systems, like to feel superior to those other humans who have ended up in the criminal justice system. Until it happens to them - then they become advocates for change.
I worked in a federal prison for 21 years. Contrary to popular belief, these places are not cushy country clubs. Yes, there are recreation and basic education programs, but it's not much. The food is gross, and a cell is a cell.
I've never visited a private prison, but I can only imagine how awful they are. I interviewed inmates when they arrived, and many times, those who had been transferred from private prisons were ecstatic. They felt safe, they felt respected by staff, and they LOVED the food.
Trust me, anyone who would get excited about the dry, blackened hamburgers and soggy fries that were served every Wednesday at lunch has come from a horrible place.
We cannot turn criminals into productive citizens by treating them like garbage.
167
If prisons were ever intended to "turn criminals into productive citizens," they no longer are. Rather, they exist to keep as many people as possible behind bars. Incarceration gives elected officials a facile, one-size-fits-all solution to difficult social problems, letting them neatly sweep homelessness, poverty, and mental illness under the rug. More importantly, it serves the burgeoning prison-industrial complex, our only recession-proof growth industry.
Private prisons are the most extreme manifestation. But traditional prisons require legions of employees and contractors to feed, house, guard, and provide medical care for prisoners, and to build and maintain prisons. There are also the legions of employees in the police, prosecutors, and courts that keep the school-to-prison and street-to-prison pipelines running efficiently at maximum capacity-- the proudest achievement of the 4-decade War on Drugs.
All those various jobs and empires depend on a constantly-increasing prison population. Recidivism is thus a Good Thing! There's no point in wasting money on education or rehabilitation, since the prison-industrial complex is best served if prisoners return as soon as possible after release. Prisoners are nothing more than an expendable renewable resource to plunder for profit, and are treated accordingly.
Incarceration helps politicians stay in office, gives secure employment to many, and makes a few obscenely rich. But is that the best use of our tax dollars?
9
"There are too few guards for the prisoners." Underfunding just as it happens in schools, leading to the same problems. People who are put in prison are troubled. They are poorer, they are going through probably the worst time of their lives, and they often have less social support — and they are thrown into a brutal environment. Corrupt southern prisons are nothing new, and making a profit on the down-and-out is nothing new, but having it sanctioned - and championed - by the federal government, well that's a particularly ugly twist on an old problem. The guards who are, unbelievably, making "less than $12 an hour" (and I doubt they have much in the way of benefits) aren't much better off.
5
Bernie's goal is to ban private prisons.
7
Fostering violence through neglect? More like unbridled greed victimizing those serving time for crimes of varying degrees.
1
The whole idea of having private, for-profit prisons is just idiotic. As soon as a profit motive comes into play when making decisions about how to run a prison, the decision making process gets turned upside down. Cut costs, keep the prison full at all times, reduce healthcare, skrimp on the food, cut back on guards, etc. In other words, too many prisoners, worse conditions, awful treatment, more hatred, more tension, more violence, less justice. It’s just an awful idea from the start.
5
Saw this headline in my feed and
thought it was a prison in a third world country...America is racing to the bottom.
5
Private prisons are a bad idea. Add that to the overall problems political/social in Mississippi, and you have real disaster.
11
Ah, America. The country with the highest rate of incarceration in the world.
4
What kind of people live in, govern, Mississippi? This is some sick nightmare out of the eighteenth century, right? Public, private, low pay or not- there seems to be a total lack of humanity, decency in the treatment of these mentally ill inmates.
But for the ACLU, the Southern Poverty Law Center, the state, this private corporation, would have continued to what- wipe up the blood, laugh at rape, run from inmate attacks.
One comment suggests a class action law suit. Maybe it’s time to yank the corporate papers from companies that show a ‘depraved heart’. Let all of those fat, happy investors see what they have created.
Shame on Mississippi- and shame on the greed, the small-government advocates. Show these videos to your children- let them tell you what you are.
10
State of Mississippi is expected to be somewhat behind the times but this story indicates they have simply decided to "throw away" prisoners for any crime into a landfill run by a private company whose sole purpose is to extract profits. The words "Cruel and Unusual Punishment" would apply here - the State is outside the bounds of the Constitution.
7
Bad. Clearly needs reform. Good reporting to expose this.
4
Yep, looks like the red states want to go back to the good old chain gang days, For profit prisons need to show profit and I'm sure they will find all kinds of ways to do that, Doubt that will include real job skill training to rehabilitate the inmates. More likely it will be some use of them as menial labor to increase the bottom line,
3
Nothing new here. How many reports have we seen coming out of our Public and Private schools? Pedophilia, rape and other forms of child abuse are rampant across zip codes. Also under funded and ill prepared teachers, administrators and Boards of Ed. In our so called healthcare system we have millions with inappropriate access to care. How many times have we learned about people waiting and dying before receiving attention? What about collusion between unethical prosecutors and other components of the so called justice system to send innocent people to jail and death? Imprisonment is about punishment and that alone. Authorities may leave their brain cortex at home. Institution like this incarceration device are found at every level of society except perhaps for those serving the 1%.
5
Prisons and jails are breeding grounds for more crime and must be limited to only those who have demonstrated a lack of remorse for violent offenses. Like sex offender registries, nothing good is achieved and we remain blind to the fact that prisons and registries are a harm to society. Remember this the next time your local politician claims to be tough on crime. Tough, yes... but not smart.
Beware the politician who knows better not the one who has been stripped of dignity and resources to survive.
2
Thanks for mentioning the registries. Even many prison reformers baulk at accepting the increasing amounts of evidence showing that these registries either don't protect the public or slightly increase the risks.
Punitive segregation from society is an 19th century idea that’s cheap and easy. And, just like running electrical transmission lines on poles: it’s too expensive now to change.
Strange how a country purportedly founded on the philosophy of a man who said “he without sin cast the first stone” and “turn the other cheek” leads the world in murder and incarceration of its own citizenry.
Then again hypocrisy is not a sin.
5
"Early last year, President Trump’s attorney general, Jeff Sessions, reversed the ban."
The US attorney general, whose department investigates civil rights abuses, is sending the message that the states can spend as little money as they want without having to worry about Washington coming in to investigate them.
5
We are all well aware that our legal and justice systems are broken. Yet, we pretend that anyone who is incarcerated receives just punishment. Privately run prisons are the worst. Drugs brought in by guards, unthinkable violence of all kinds, food that we would not feed to our dogs, and so many other atrocities that we abhor when other countries are guilty. Prisoners are considered the cockroaches of society by the very systems that have failed some of them.
Fix our broken systems. Rehabilitate those who are able to be rehabilitated. Isolate those who are a threat to society.
And please do not pretend that any of this is new information.
4
The first thing I want to say is that I am glad that the New York Times posted/printed this article. I am going to ask my local news outlets and papers why they are not exposing and reporting on these atrocities that are being committed at so many for-profit prisons across the country.
So many American people are ignorant of the fact that the majority of people incarcerated within America prisons should not even be there. They have the barbaric belief that those human beings who are incarcerated should suffer.
I have never understood why the American people do not demand the banning of many privately owned-for profit institutions, such as prisons, insurance companies, schools and many other organizations. The government, from federally on down to local, is so filled with corruption. Bribes disguised as campaign contributions. Corporations only interested in increased profits and their lobbyists making the laws by which the operate. And still not enough people care. The lack of empathy in the vast majority of the people within this country is unnerving.
Private prisons must be shut down and those corporations running them be held accountable for the deaths and injuries of the prisoners. And I don’t mean just monetarily, but criminally. Too many of the rich people get away with everything. A 20 million dollar fine is nothing to a multi-billion dollar a year company. They are the ones who need the 20 year sentences without the possibility of parole.
5
The horrors of the private prison system were exposed during the presidential election and before. President Obama and Eric holder stopped the addition of more private prisons and began to address the prison system. However once again the GOP attempted to suppress the information For example in New Jersey, Chris Christie best friend runs a network of private prisons that are on this horrific level. Did he have any shame or attempt to address the horrors that his best friend created? You know the answer no, bullied the spineless GOP and democrats to pretend it wasn't happening. This is America and we have the nerve to condemn other countries? Look in the mirror we are the horror and our trickle down affect has increased the issues in society as a whole. Educate our fellow Americans and vote these monster politicians out of office who support this madness. Thank you writers for reminding us once again about American horror show. I wish you had run this article during the season of Lent it would of had a stronger hit for these pious religious Americans just what type of people we are
6
Just one more thing that makes the United States "exceptional" among "western" countries.
1
What is Management & Training Corporation"s profit?
Is it consistent?
Are target goals being met at the expense of human lives and suffering?
Just what incentive does the warden get?
How much is the bonus for each dead prisoner, does the warden get to pocket what is not spent on food?
Prisoners are not a business expense.
And incarceration does not mean cruel and unusual punishment.
This is why privatization never works.
Making a profit is always the main goal. Not performing the service and meeting the needs of the community.
60
Dear Timothy Williams,
Great reporting, really well-written, a great read.
Sincere thanks,
Eric Lose
2
One of the first things the trump administration did was to overturn OSHA rules about reporting workplace injuries and deaths. It seemed like an odd regulatory reversal. Perhaps the new rules were meant to protect the private prison industry. Please remember to vote in November. And if you know any millennials, please prod them into voting.
5
The real problem is at the level of the state workers who oversee these contracts. The kickbacks and disregard for basic enforcement of the contracts make the system totally unusable. If I hire someone to mow my lawn and he only does the front yard, he'll make more money for less service. I'll not pay him because he didn't perform the service I hired him for. The states aren't interested in receiving the service they pay for because the people overseeing it are bought off and don't care at all about the problems they are supposed to care about. It would have been interesting for the NYT to include how much profit the company made at this and all of its prisons. Criminal charges for all involved is indicated and would be the only way to improve the situation at all. Start at the top of the company and go on to the bottom and file charges on each owner or employee for every assault and death that occurred due to understaffing and inadequate training that occurs with their knowledge.
50
For those people who think "prison is meant to be tough" is a catch all apology for any and all abuse that befalls prisoners . . . you need to be a little more organized. If being raped and beaten is part of any prison sentence in the United States, it needs to be institutionalized, scheduled and monitored to ensure every prisoner gets their once a day beating and their twice weekly rape. It would be a shame if somehow a prisoner were to fall through the cracks and have an abuse-free week of life while in the care of the US penal system.
12
Not everything is or ought to be “for profit”.This mindless odsession with the notion of enriching ourselves, or at least those who can afford it, is destroying us. Trump, Sessions, Ryan, Hannity and countless others, (Democrats too) are destroying the nation. This is facism. Woe he who doesnt place his hand on his heart during the national anthem. Soon enough, we’ll be extending that right arm. The is nation is on the verge of extinction, and what do we do? we post comments.
We demonize and despise one another. We turn on neighbours and friends, disparaging anyone who dares to disagree. We spew hatred. We denounce and are outraged and incensed by animal cruelty yet we willfully turn a blind eye away from the systematic (as in system) killing of African americans, bowing to our own inner racism, even if “some of our best friends are black”. Really? Fashionaly, we’re all in for gender neutrality and equality, as long as we’re just a tad more equal than the next person. We empower little girls, as we should but in the process, all too often, we neglect little boys, and throughout all of this, we’re making China and Russia great again. America will never be as great as it once MAY have been. Never. And still, all we do is comment, we tweet and we post, furiously and obsessively chasing “likes”, while trying to “keep up” with one family or another. Good going America!
9
With liberty and justice for all... exception, the poor, blacks, people of color, American Indians... and who cares about prisoners?
Alexis de Tocqueville came from France to study us when our courts and culture served as an example. Democracy in America was read in French in France.
Today our example inspires contempt and horror.
We have become the example of what not to be.
White Trash, by Nancy Isenger, tells us where we started..
The New York Times tells us where we are.
Alissa Johannsen Rubin’s looking glass shatters our image, world wide. But this is no surprise.
We have elected a monster that prefers to attack our civilization, not serve our better instincts.
Never has the Republic been at greater risk. The failure of our schools and parents is on display in the way we treat our less fortunate.
The markets will eventually punish us, deservedly.
Alexis Charles Henri Clerel, Viscount de Tocqueville, was a French diplomat sent to study America by his government. France wanted to improve and came to learn how. De Tocqueville would not recognize us today.
We have become a disgrace, and President Trump leads this disgrace with every tweet.
The Tweeter in Chief is proof that our parents and schools have failed. We are the problem.
What do we do about that?
11
This is beyond repulsive; barbarism in 21st Century America. We do not have a rehabilitation system; we have a system of punitive entertainment and profiteering: Gitmo- Southern Style. How ordinary men and women can turn themselves into monsters for 8-10-12 hour shifts then go home; god only knows what they are there. And we dare brag about being Exceptional...
3
Need one even ask what percentage of these poor souls are black?
6
Judges, knowing these conditions exist, when announcing their sentences should replace 5 years in prison with 5 years of beatings, rapes, starvation, dehydration and psychological damage.
Where are the Evangelicals on this? This isn’t what Christ taught.
8
Obama also increased use of private prisons, and we were silent. In the interest of intellectual honesty, let's stop bashing every single thing Trump does. He is often acting foolishly and obnoxious, but lets judge his actions not his antics.
3
Actually, that's incorrect. Obama ordered the cancellation of private prisons, and Trump ordered Sessions to reverse that.
6
Let's say a person acts outside the limits of social acceptability and is logically deemed to be a danger to society, so he/she is sent to a confined environment. There the prisoner is treated with less humanity than a rabid dog. Does the prisoner 'learn his/her lesson?" ABSOLUTELY!!
One learns to HATE, with every fiber of their being, the people and system and community which put them there and condone their unending abuse. THEN, after years of such abuses, they are unceremoniously evicted out in the harsh morning sun. The person is now a behavioral time bomb primed by desperation, fear of failure, lack of resources and, in many cases, a VERY bad attitude.
What has occurred is a violation of a prime law of social well being: "If you cannot solve a problem, for god's sake, don't make it three to five times worse!" And that is EXACTLY what prisons do, especially the so called 'private prisons' which are driven by nothing but a profit-motive and maned by inhumane imbibes.
With a 60 to 70% recidivism rate, citizens of Mississippi, you are being ill served by the elected vultures who swear an oath to protect you. Prisons are NOT 'out of sight and out of mind' but vile way-stations which flush your tax dollars while exacerbating the future occurrence of crime THREE TO FIVE HUNDRED PERCENT.
12
When Trump, Trump Jr and others in their swamp are convicted this year, please send them all to the prison in East Mississippi fir a minimum of 10 years.
1
Um, has anyone heard of CCA? Corrections Corporation of America, now something else? The complaints against them, the poster child for privatizing prisons, are legion.
7
Privatize prisons . . . what could possibly go wrong?
3
Meanwhile the money just keeps being funneled to the rich.
3
Any model or system of brutality, like the one described here, would naturally appeal to Trump and his followers.
3
To make money with incarceration is one of the most pervert ideas in this world. These "investors" should be more than ashamed.
5
The only thing assured with private prisons is that there will be profits and that there will not be unions to protect employees. They relate to the government the way big banks related to the government during the Great Recession. The profits are privatized, losses and liabilities are socialized -- taxpayers pay for their failures.
4
Let me guess....this isn’t where wealthier criminals go.
3
These guys enter the prison system as troubled teenagers. They come out dead or hardened, with severe PTSD and associated anger management problems, and totally unemployable.
The lesson prison teaches - violence is a means to an end.
3
These horror stories will continue until we resurrect hospitals for the mentally ill. Similar horrors have been reported at Rikers Island in New York City. Working at either public or private prisons, security guards are not trained to treat the mentally ill inmate.
6
What makes you think that Government run facilities are any less dangerous, violent etc? A certain percentage of prison guards have always been cruel and sadistic, and prisons twenty years ago and twenty years beond that were in many ways worse. Guards have never been paid well, Gangs have virtually controlled prison culture, Scenes like this one happen all the time every where 19% of Federal Prisons are privatized. 6% of State prisons are privatized.
Prison reform? By all means. but don't lay this single video of violence at the feet of the for profit prisons.
2
As the US slowly started getting filled by people from feudal language nations, everything in the US has gone low-quality.
Even though the comprehensive English environment might make the nation look quite attractive, in minute locations, the nation would be having the feel of some low quality nation.
This tragedy commenced from 1990s when low-cost labour was imported in large quantities. It goes without saying that along with them, their social systems also will enter.
Why only the IT and medical fields alone were to import low-cost labourers from low-quality nations is not clear. In fact, in almost everything, including building construction, Iron work and much more, every worker in the US could have been replaced by workers from low-quality nations.
May be it might be time to take up the issue of who were the nation's traitors.
1
Sessions must have an investment in that lucrative franchise.
4
This article makes reference to the fact that a “mentally ill man on suicide watch hanged himself.” But, I don’t understand what actually constitutes “mental illness” in an environment like this? What human being with a soul would not go mentally ill in this kind of place? Who could pretend that they feel at peace here? The concept is absurd. It’s odd to suggest that anyone subjected to these conditions could be mentally healthy and retain a desire to continue their life.
I don’t understand the desire to divorce the diagnosis and treatment of “mental illness” from the conditions of the patient. The cure for a prosoner’s mental illness is to improve his conditions or remove him from prison. Anything else is a farce.
2
Nat a lawyer, but how is it that a private for profit company can hold US citizens in detention? I want to hear the legal argument- there is no moral argument.
3
Since the conditions are unconstitutional, the Federal Gov't should take over the prison system for MS. Restore accountability, professionalism, and at least competence.
1
Perhaps every elected official voting for privatization and the VP and CEO of these disposable companies should be made to spend 2 weeks a year as a random inmate in their prisons. I bet things would change very quickly.
5
Prisons are usually among the most expensive budget items for states.
So these companies are hired despite their lack of quality performance to drastically lower prison administration costs for states. Already, for many states, citizens who are not affluent have minimal health care and poor education for their children.
Where is all our tax money going?
over 66% of our GDP goes toward the military industrial complex .
It's a shame we cannot provide money for much but those are our
governments priorities .
Certainly sounds unconstitutional to me as cruel or unusual punishment.
State officials seem to forget that many of these man will be returned to their communities. When they are brutalized, when they are abandoned by guards, when they feel powerless and are victimized, they bring all the hurt, rage, and brutality back to the community.
Beyond that, this country should be better than this. Sadly, under current "leadership" we are likely to be worse before we have a chance of being better.
15
This quote from the story says it all:
'Prisons are usually among the most expensive budget items for states.'
'Pairs well' with recent news about teachers in red states demanding better salaries as well as increased school funding.
Over the past decades we cut taxes, especially for upper income folks, who can afford to send their children to private school. Then we cut funding for public schools. Perhaps we worry about the next budget but never see 'the future' beyond the next election. It's called complacency, the opposite of vision. It is prevalent among successful societies in which citizens become lazy and trust government.
My guess is that if these inmates had received a better education from elementary school thru high school plus the opportunity to go to college or junior college and learn a trade or profession, many of these private prisons would be out of business.
It all depends on how seriously government at all levels sees these problems and how willing are we to exercise some vision and create industries which will help society. It's not easy, but in the long run costs less than not acting.
It's called vision because we need to invest 5, 10 years ahead of the payoff to create a better future in which we inspire and educate people.
Seems so simple.
17
Remind me again which third-world country this is?
25
I shall always regret omitting to take a screenshot last year of two adjacent articles that presented themselves perfectly, side by side, with jaw-dropping apropos.
One was Attorney General Jeff Sessions announcing that he will take a hardline approach to criminal behavior. The other was a notice that more private prisons are being built.
Indeed, no comment necessary here, the mind quite readily fills in the blanks. But still, just to be on the safe side since some people insist on being dense: This administration, this country, is literally making money off its black citizenry. There is simply no other way to see this.
19
, when has that happened before?
2
The Management & Training Corporation officers--every one--should be sent to spend time in one of their own prisons along with the cruelly incompetent Mr. Shaw. Also what the h*ll does Pelicia E. Hall, the commissioner of the state prison system, do exactly? This person should be fired and face lawsuits. Along with Gloria Perry. Both are extreme cases of incompetence.
15
Private prison corporations have overhead that state-run prisons do not. They have to pay taxes. More importantly, they have to pay their top executives the lavish compensation to which anyone in such exalted positions is entitled by right. And most important of all, they have to generate enough profit to entice institutional investors to choose their stock over numerous other offerings.
But private prison corporations must also charge the state less than the cost of running prisons themselves. That "efficiency" is the supposed rationale for privatization. The only way they can do that is to minimize the "unnecessary" costs of guarding, housing, feeding, and providing medical services to prisoners. (In MBA-speak, these expenses are all "outside the value stream.") And that's exactly what seems to be happening in Mississippi. It's the usual zero-sum game of "Shareholder Value Capitalism": The prisoners must suffer (beyond their mere sentence of incarceration) so that executives and shareholders can prosper.
One solution is to specify standards in the contract, enforced through government inspections and sanctions. But that would likely increase costs to the point where privatization can no longer produce savings. A better solution would be to admit that the realities of economics make private prisons an impractical losing proposition, and shut them all down. Unfortunately, conservative dogma and crony capitalism too often matter more than economic reality.
25
Privatizing prisons leads to prison companies contributing to politicians, who then vote for laws for longer sentences, making more things illegal, weaker protections for defendants. It is profiting from cruelty. This is immoral and should be unconstitutional.
21
The fact that East Miss. CF is 'the State's Mental Health Prison' gives witness to one of our most troubling Civil Rights failures. When persons afflicted by serious mental illness are housed with violent convicts, it is a statistical fact those with mental illness are overwhelmingly victimized more than other prisoners. Also, those with mental illness are far more the Victims, rather than the Perpetrators of Violence. The East Miss. story highlights this Nation's failure to provide Community Mental Health Programs and Services to adequately address and treat citizens in need.
Operation of State and Federal Prisons is a function of Government which should be performed by Civil Service Employees. Congratulations to the SPLC and ACLU for prevailing in these Cases; and continued success to them. Keep Up the Good Work !
11
Anyone paying attention to this country's intentions towards its black citizens and its criminal justice record isn't the slightest bit surprised. Our prison system is doing what it was designed to do--pick up where Jim Crow laws left off. Mississippi and Louisiana jails are especially depraved and even more so when one considers how many are wrongfully convicted and/or "convicted" by a jury of their non-peers.
We have a lot to be ashamed of. And I, for one, will not cast one vote for any candidate that doesn't passionately shout about equality and criminal justice reform.
16
Republicans have created a situation that prevents operating the government by starving it of funding......and they are getting away with it.
For profit everything is simply stealing from the government Treasury, period
11
Add to this what we know about the government’s drone attacks. Tell me, do you love your country?
2
Every system is perfectly designed for the results it achieves.
2
Not much data reported herein re the racial mix of prisoners,
as well as guards and overseers. Without knowing the precise
percentages, it is plausible to believe that the chain gang
mindset still operates in this part of the deep south, and
will continue to do so until one of two miracles occurs.
Either a federal suit, based upon cruel and inhuman treatment,
is allowed to proceed to trial, and ends with a searingly clear
verdict indicting the entire system, one not very different from
the type of incarceration horrors one knows
about from Eastern Europe or the Soviet Union.
The second miracle would be for the citizens of the
good state would decide they really were so appalled, and felt so ashamed of
the dishonor this brought upon their great and good state,
that they decided upon a systemic reform with the money
needed to carry out the reforms.
But since miracles come not to the unworthy, neither
scenario is likely. Instead the conjecture that the overwhelming
number of inmates are african-americans, who therefore
deserve the neglect the state is responsible for, at least in
the minds of the majority of the good people who
vote into office the representatives who find nothing
to oppose here, implies that
band aid, at best, "solutions" will be announced and possibly
even implemented.
This is the type of story one is familiar with from
slavery through Jim Crow through dixiecrat era. Nothing
new, nothing redeemable to find in this miserably ugly
story.
11
Welcome to for the privatization of societal institutions. The problem is not the contract, the problem is society is unwilling to pay the price to carry out the basic functions of government. The great god privatization - of schools (called Charter), of health care, Job Corps, etc etc etc is driven by a blind theology that kneels to the invisible hand of Adam Smith, that every Republican knows can solve all problems, lower all taxes, and make the world as it should be. All kneel to profit. Human beings, bad, sick or weak, suffer, bleed, and die while the rich get richer cannibalizing their own society.
Kiss your good life - clean air, safe streets, health care, clean water - kiss it all goodbye. Private companies - no matter they are "for profit" - the non-proifts are as predatory, they just buy land and pay their managers obscene salaries. Privatizing civilization is what we are doing - its called techno-feudalism. This story could be written about private prisons, for profit hospitals, for profit schools, etc ad nauseum. The details of depravity differ, otherwise it is our future.
24
As a 28 year veteran jail administrator, I can tell you that 30 minutes for staff to respond to an incident like this demonstrates serious problems in this facility. For profit prisons and jails are nothing but a horrible joke. Most cut corners with staff levels, security, staff pay/benefits, and all manner of inmate services to make a buck. There are many more examples of these private corrections hellholes in our country. It’s proof that “running government like a business” dosn’t hold the promise the neocons claim. And buy the way, if privatizing correctional facilities is such a fabulous idea, why not privatize the police and courts as well?
28
Mississippi is a cesspool and always has been. I had an aunt, by marriage, raised in Meridian, Mississippi.
I learned what true hatred was from this woman's rantings in her Los Angeles CA mansion.
10
Why can't a constitutional law case be brought that it is "cruel and unusual punishment" in this day and age to be turning over prison management to companies that have a VESTED INTEREST in NOT rehabilitating or paroling inmates, but (1) in keeping them in prison for the maximum period and (2) actually preventing and retarding their rehabilitation so they have an increased chance of running afoul of the law and ending up back in prison, thus boosting the revenues of the growing prison industry. This is a modern form of enslavement.
For maximum profits, you combine it with the practice of neighboring Texas, and send poor women who make an honest mistake and attempt to vote to prison for 5-8 years. (Fortunately, sons of Russian oligarchs who are former Skadden Arps partners and lie to the FBI only get 30 days in jail. See story elsewhere on the page. What a criminal justice system!)
13
Privatizing prisons .... it's hard to even remotely imagine a better recipe for abuse and degradation.
13
And, a privatized VA will go the way of the private prisons.
13
My Manhattan VA is "privatized". It is run By NYU Langone, #1 hospital in the city. My cardiologist is world famous. The Bronx VA is run by Mt. Sinai NY and some years ago was rated #1 in the country. One can go to a private doctor and VA takes care of bill now. In my case, I am monitored from home. I am covered wherever on the globe I travel or want to retire for my heart disability. Not bad, eh? Today's VA. And so on. It's 2018. This ain't the VA of years ago, when most doctors were from Romania.
3
Any surprise that the society that gave you Gitmo, Bagram and CIA black sites also has private prisons? Private prisons = domestic rendition.
17
And we dare to lecture others outside of our borders about their behavior?!?! The video alone shows how much we have abdicated our responsibilities to our fellow citizens: victims of crime, the convicted, those who serve in the system and we who await their return either from the hospital, prison or office.
I admit I haven't a clue as to what the ultimate answer to this problem is but I know it starts with a bucket, mop and strong disinfectant for that cell!
8
Commissioner of the Mississippi state prison system? I'd rather take a job as a cashier at Wayne Lee's in Pascagoula.
6
I'll be waiting for the private prisons in New York. We'll have the Trump Correctional Facility Hotel and Casino, and Kushner Prison. When somebody asks whether their friend or loved one were sent to TCFHC or KP, instead of saying he went to Kushner Prison, the official can just say, "He went to Jared."
8
Good article and not before time in my opinion. Just the fact that it seems to be accepted that routine sexual abuse takes place and nobody thinks anything should be done about it says it all for me. Nothing would surprise me about prisons in the US now. Whatever you do don't drink and drive or you too could end up in one of these and it will be no good bleating about it afterwards? Even money may not keep you out?
13
This disgusts me but does not surprise me at all. Americans seem utterly lacking in empathy, more interested in savagely punishing people than rehabilitating them.
203
Many Americans agree with you.
20
Enough with the blanket statements about Americans, Natalie. I surely speak for many Americans who have become tired of reading broad, critical statements from NYTimes readers in Canada about America and Americans since Trump was elected. He didn't even win the popular vote... and we're not all like him. Pay attention to your own shortcomings up there. Like a perhaps overly empathetic prime minister who dressed his family like clowns on their visit to India to somehow connect with the people and their culture. (And yes, for the record I do believe that prison should be rehabilitative whenever possible -- and that the best solution is to provide education and opportunities so that people don't resort to criminal behaviors in the first place. And yep, I'm American.)
5
And why not? They also want to punish the poor for the sin of not having enough money, so this makes perfect sense...
8
It is appalling to me that we have privatized prisons in the U.S. The more people incarcerated, the more money they make. Ugh. Sickening.
12
Whatsoever you do, to the least of my brothers, that you do unto me.
Matthew 25:40
Go, you Evangelicals. You are Wolves in sheep's clothing.
Matthew 7:15
37
What a barbaric, backwards and civilised country that allows such things to occur and carry on over years and not be shouted out as the National disgrace it is through the media and all over the land.
This from the richest country in the World, yet obviously the most selfishly heartless as it spends a pittance and treats prisoners in conditions such as this not because it can't be better or do more , but because it won't and doesn't want to. At least poorer countries not operating under the rule of law have that as "excuse" but America has none except an innate cruelty or disregard for those they consider worthless or undeserving.
What brings about such callous disregard for the treatment and attitude to fellow citizens regardless that they are in Jail?
A Christian Nation?
I don't believe to and neither do those who profess Christian values yet allow things like this to occur time and time again and turn their other cheek and show how little charity they have in their hearts except as usual as in so many and much that rules so much and is at the root of so many of Americans evils and injustices...not for the love of thy neighbour but for the love of Money.
The only real American Profit so many follow and wish to make, create and to all others, Forsake over.
26
American’s don’t want their taxes to go for prisons yet they also want the highest rates of incarceration amongst the industrialized world. American politicians are well aware of that conundrum . The private prison industry gives the politicians a ‘way out’ of their political jam. As for the private prisons-they’re a business run for the profit of the owners and not for the ‘correction’ or ‘rehabilitation’ of the inmates.
113
No, Americans do not want the highest rates of incarceration per se. They want to feel "safe" from the exaggerated dangers that the GOP has so successfully fear-mongered to them. The GOP, for its part, wants to incarcerate people as part of their fake war on drugs, which is in reality a war on people of color.
12
"Americans want the highest rates of incarceration amongst the industrialized world"? Rather a sweeping assessment. Here's one American who does not want these rates of incarceration or the avalanche of personal and social evils they precipitate. I know I am not alone.
2
I might have a skewed sample, but it seems to me that most Americans don't want large prison populations at all. Lengthy imprisonment for non-violent drug crime, in particular, is something many people find appalling. I don't think "the people want it" should be a central part of an attempt to explain why America has placed so many of its citizens in prison.
3
The prisons in this country, privatized or not, are beyond the pale. Doesn't that constitution of ours say something about 'cruel and unusual punishment'? This has been going on for years; prisoners at the mercy of gang members and prisoners assaulted sexually are commonplace. We know the statistics about race and money but no one seems to really care. The lawyers have held justice l hostage for many many years. Rights are only for those who can afford them.
We are barbaric.
31
I have believed that for years and it is nice to see an American agree with me. Your's really is a barbaric country. You are sick people but I don't think too many of you see it. You LOVE guns and don't care if your children are being killed off by the dozens each year. That say's a lot but you don't hear it. You elected Donald Trump to be your leader and that kind of says it all. One can only hope that you see sense, but one doesn't really think that will happen. You also loved Ronald Reagan!
14
I suppose Canada has clean
hands in the treatment of it's
indigenous peoples for years
and years.every nation has
sins on it's collective soul.
this story is a disgrace, but
Mississippi, thank goodness,
does not represent all of
America. as for your abusive comments, I am equally sure
that they do not represent all
Canadians.
2
Here's a clue. When government services are privatized, the first thing that happens is that staff wages are reduced, so the extra money can go to the stockholders. The second thing is that the public loses all hope of accountability, because it is privately owned. So, quality is sporadic and/or reduced, and there is little you can do about it.
265
you got that right, privatized government services is another scam foisted upon the public by Republican elected officials. All you need to do is try to find any instances where this benefited the public. You need to look no further than the State of NJ when under the leadership of Gov. Christie Whitman who privatized a portion of NJ tax collection system. What did we get, dismal returns, outrageous overbilling; corruption and prosecution of two high ranking officials of the NJ Division of Taxation.
7
Agree about privitized government services. I worked for one and made one third less than my federal counterpart. Turnover high and employee morale low.
2
Extra money goes to stockholders and top executives.
1
Orange IS the new Black! Trump would privatize America, thus making it much easier for him and his Oligarch buddies to control everything in a Authoritarian, Fascist State. The Trumplicans that have been co-opted by his lies and Fox propaganda will wake up one morning without their guns, without their money and without their jobs. Thank you, Donald Putin!
11
Folks, wake up! We live in a police state. As white men have faced the looming reality that they will soon be a minority they are panicking. In their desperation their hate becomes more manifest. If we don't get Republicans out of office we will go the way of Nazi Germany. Assuming the rest of the world isn't destroyed in a nuclear holocaust the resultant war will certainly destroy our country.
12
It is definitely nonsense that America's 72.4% white population "will soon be a minority."
4
boohoo lets give all the cons the right to vote and coddle them about their feelings. So sad that the bleeding heart libs are fighting to keep these violent animals on the street.
1
First off, have you EVER worked in a facility even once in your life? I doubt it. That being said, let me educate you on something, given that I am the one here with actual experience working in corrections: this is neither a liberal issue or a conservative issue, but one that we as a society should all be concerned with. Like it or not, inmates do have rights behind prison walls, too. And like it or not, our tax dollars, for better or for worse, do have to go into how prisons are managed. And in each and every instance, publicly ran facilities win every time because the level of cleanliness, accountability among corrections staff and inmates alike, security levels and medical needs are addressed far, far better by the states than in any privatized facility. Corporations like Management and Training Group, CoreCivic, La Salle Corrections, GEO Group and numerous others don't do as well because their bottom line matters more...and they are notorious for bilking the states and the federal government in return for no treatment for mentally ill offenders, painfully little medical services, next to no programs geared towards offender rehabilitation, poorly trained and poorly paid staff...I've seen all of this first hand. Why not do yourself a favor and re-evaluate your statement, because someone you know could easily land in a place like the one described in the article? Would you really want a loved one or a close friend being sent to a prison like that? I doubt it.
2
The United States is a barbaric country. We're not only beneath the Europeans, we're also beneath the Russians. All the while, liberals unironically exclaim, "America is already great."
7
hey, DKM, I am white, rich, perhaps what you call powerful, and utterly appalled. Cheap shot.
4
Private prisons, a shameful national disgrace !!
20
I agree. It is counter-intuitive to put the care of human beings into the hands of a profit-motivated system. There is no reason why we can't keep prisons public and therefore accountable to our standards of decency. I am particularly troubled by the way corporations like McDonald's and Tyson's Chicken use prison labor to keep costs down. Private prisons are the new slave labor, folks.
12
Found guilty or not, these are human beings. If an animal shelter were run like this, people would be screaming about it.
This country is going to hell all so some can make a buck or save a buck. I am hopeful that some real slick class action lawyer will get involved in this matter - not to sue the state of Mississippi, which undoubtedly has some tort claim cap, but to sue the company. Nothing prettier than hitting them where they live - their wallets!
24
Certain parties and members of our government consider the conditions in these prisons just fine. They are part of punishment justly deserved.
The privatization underlying theme is to lock up as many as possible at the lowest possible cost.
6
"Evidence-informed" is the new Gospel truth! Many facts are included. Descriptions. Some may even be reasonable explanations.About what? The described prison-micro-violating-scenario, private or government-based, parallels the daily, toxic, infectious, WE-THEY violating culture, and world, of selected "the others." Everywhere. Which is enabled by each of US. Daily! So now we know. About Mississippi. And Rikers Island. And CIA sites in other countries.Now what?The comforts of complacency?The safety of willful blindness of what is said? Done? Which should never, ever, have been? Willful blindness at the soundless-toneless words of the article's documentation? Their implications? Meanings? Which each of US can "delete" with willful ignorance and silent-responding?The documented, institutionally-acculturated- warden, wards off personal accountability and responsibility. If the President of the USA does so, daily, shouldn't a Make-America-Great-Prisons-again-warden do his patriotic duty to keep America Safe Again? Whatever role and influence prison-privatization make have on internal-violence, it surely is minor in comparison to the traditionalized-anchored-institutionalized ongoing violation of selected peoples,values, norms, etc. in the USA.Past.Present, and anticipated future.The problem with the prisoners is not what they did; adjudicated crimes.Consensualized unacceptable behaviors. It's more like who they ARE! A dehumanized, excluded,THEY who got caught! An inherent failing!
1
Trump is going to what! More private prisons, what a bloody joke. His family must have invested in one of the pathetic companies.
5
Cutting corners!! This is what happens when you go cheap. In this case, under-trained and poorly-paid guards are put into dangerous situations, and prisoners who are also placed in dangerous and unhealthful confinement, with no rehabilitation or educational programs to permit them to reenter society. All just to save a few bucks!! When it comes to private prisons, profits will always come before people.
9
Private prisons are an abomination. Nobody should make a profit from taking away someone's liberty. If the government is going to make laws and criminals of people who break them, the government has the responsibility to see that the sentences are carried out. If the government is not going to take the responsibility to see that prisoners are treated justly, it has no business setting itself up as a standard of justice.
24
Prisons do cost too much. They should be outsourced to Mexico.
6
Who would want to admit to being a Management & Training shareholder??
5
Profiting from savagery. DH Lawrence got it right: “The essential American soul is hard, isolate, stoic, and a killer. It has never yet melted."
11
Prisons who cannot protect their inmates should not be allowed to hold them.
If we are to be a responsible nation in regards to our penal system, we need to recognize that it's necessary to recruit corrections officials in a similar way that we do teachers. Applicants must demonstrate competency and interest in the field by taking coursework and becoming licensed. And obviously, we have to pay them.
The effect that one nasty guard can have on an inmate who lives under his control for 20 years is massive. I volunteer in a prison and a jail and many employees there feel that they are unassailable, to the extent that I'll pass the same guard four times a week over 3 years and not once have a greeting returned and who refuses to respond cogently to questions. I'm not describing an officer who is in a situation of danger, just one who processes badges. This sense of being unaccountable to norms of civil service work is more common than not.
A 19 year old corrections official whose qualifications are having passed a GED will have the power to unilaterally decide that an inmate will go into the hole for 2 weeks, without light or human contact.
Everyone involved in the chain of command in "we do our best but fail" prisons should be hung out to dry.
23
This was my first and foremost reason for having worked as hard as I could on Bernie Sanders's campaign.
I did NOT agree with everything Bernie said BUT PRIVATE PRISONS ARE BEYOND UGLY - FOR-PROFIT-PRISONS. Sold on the stock market.
What bloody country are we in ??? It's disgusting. There is NO excuse.
People buy STOCK in for-profit prisons and for-profit nursing homes (also a kind
of prison, just "different").
It won't change unless we MAKE IT HAPPEN.
But Americans don't care. At least I am stupid enough to use my real name, so those want to criticize my "opinion" have at it.
All it takes for evil to flourish is for "good" people to Do Nothing.
17
Your hard work and support for Bernie helped elect Trump. Feel better?
4
This is besides the point. Even if Bernie had succeeded, or any other Democrat, corporations like Management and Training Group still have very, very powerful influence at the state level and at the local level. Short of writing legislation outlawing privatized corrections, it will take years of work to get privatized corrections companies to go away. Don't point fingers here and stay focused on the issue at hand is what I am saying, simply.
Looking for a place to donate money? ACLU and SPLC should be at the top of your list.
14
Private prisons exist to make profits for private prison owners and to reduce the wages of prison employees by breaking unions. They succeed at that. They fail at everything else.
Most state laws absolve private prison owners of any responsibility for crimes and deaths that occur at private prisons. The prisoners and their relatives have to sue the state or local government to receive compensation.
The relationship of owners of private prisons to the government is remarkably similar to the relationship of money center banks during the Great Recession. The profits were privatized for the bankers. The losses were socialized for American taxpayers. In like manner, private prisons make profits by treating prisoners and employees badly. The taxpayers pay for the private prisons' crimes and failures and losses.
7
How many congressmen and women, senators, others in government hold stock in private prisons? Who are the primary private prison advocates and/or stockholders?
6
Most of these guards would be the prisoners if they did not have their jobs.
The lunatics are running the asylum.
11
I spent 25 years in Mississippi and found the Republican (They’re always Republican) politicians, including the governor who has the Ten Commandments posted in his office and has banished his gay son, love to quote scripture about the sanctity and dignity of all people, that is unless you’re poor or black and that’s half the state. The governor and his boys in the state-house pushed through the largest tax cut ever, but at the expense of education. Mississippi doesn’t to care about the kids so why would anyone expect them to care about the brutalized, mentally ill in for-profit prisons. I have to hand it to them, Mississippi’s worked hard to stay in 50th place since 1865.
21
Here in the South we've always had a saying when it comes to statistics for almost anything, "Thank God for Mississippi." You cold always count on it to be 50th on anything good and in the top ten on anything bad.
7
"The degree of civilization in a society can be judged by entering its prisons"
Fyodor Dostoevsky, from The House of the Dead
8
Barbaric! Not even Jeff Sessions and Donald Trump deserve this kind of treatment; let alone criminals who have committed lesser crimes.
4
First of all way too many people are in prison for way too long a sentence. (My friend who was in for embezzlement was glad to have finally been caught and in any case would not have embezzled again..He was sheltered for at least seven years. Yup, there was a certain amount of violence wreaked upon this morbidly obese gay while male.. and by the guards. He liked solitary! NYS). Louisiana has been written up for the revolving dorr prisons. I do not understand the criminal class -- or I guess I should say the viiolent criminal class - e.g. gangs. but maybe they all are Mafia, certain business groups..etc
My friend worked in the prison library and deplored the stupidity of many of the inmates. (This is important. There may well be many with very low IQs.) I am currently reading the New Yorker article about Triste- the gang member turned informer now in the hands of ICE and in fear for his life as the brave policeman who use info from this guy to control MS13 in Suffolk County won't testify in his favor _GEEZie -- HOW ABOUT A ONE PERSON CRUSDAE--FREE TRISTE and put him into witness protection. ALL unbelievable.. In and out of prison. What to do? In fact maybe hard labor --whatever that might be these days. Maybe prisoners as in the past should grow their own food; construct farm buildings; sell eggs; knit ponchos-- whatever. The system is a total mess like the schools and the rest of the economic system -- I laugh when I hear about American products- all made in China!
1
private prisons what a great idea what 's the incentive here--------- more prisoners for longer sentences
is this country great or what??
5
What did anyone expect? Private prisons are for-profit operations that seek to lower costs and increase occupancy. Food, quarters, education, medical care -- those are on the expense side of the financial statement: lower those expenses. Profits go up. What is a CEO in this vampire industry to do? One need only consider the lesson for privatizing the VA -- increase the vacancy rate, lower the medical care, physician pay, medical device, food, facilities maintenance costs and bingo: a profitable enterprise. Government exists so that it can do for us what we -- including private enterprise -- cannot do for ourselves. Private enterprise cannot do what prisoners need: good food and health care, education, plenty of exercise, rehabilitation, conjugal visits, and development of a skill set that will enable the prisoner to get a job after release. Our veterans have similar needs: private enterprise would not meet them. Make no mistake, privatization of functions normally performed by government is the opposite of what is in the public interest. Privatizing prisons and the VA puts money in the hands of CEOs and stockholders, but deprives civil society of the proper means of addressing societal obligation, leads to corruption, and devastating, inhumane results.
2
I'm a Vet. Nothing you say is true about the VA in 2018. Geez! Most of it is "privatized" and for the better. The VA was awful here in NY until the Private hospitals took them over.
2
American exceptionalism?
1
This is Mississippi. What do you expect?
The school system any better?
5
Amerika, the land of the free and the home of the brave.
In 16 American states, there are more people in prison than children in college.
6 % High school spend a year in prison before they turn 30,
28 % high school dropout spend a year in prison before they turn 30,
68 % Afro American dropout spend a year in prison before they turn 30.
6
When humans are a commodity, it never goes well.
7
Concentration camps in Nazi Germany were "privatized" to the SS, and their inmates were privately brokered out by the Organization Todt. The Nazis even punished the commandant of Buchenwald and his wife (Ilse Koch, of the human-skin handbags) for embezzlement of government funds! Mr. Koch wad executed, and Ilse imprisoned until 1944.
Yes, the is what the GOP has become.
6
Is Mississippi not one of the most backward, bigoted, useless states in the Union
4
"Four out of five inmates in the prison receive psychiatric medication..."
I'm not sure what I can add that is more damning of our system than that. Surely we aren't trying to reform the mentally ill by providing a "tough environment". So just what are we doing here?
5
From reading the article and looking at these pictures, if a private prison in the US is not hell on earth, I don't know what is. Whatever their crimes, perhaps these prisoners deserve some form of punishment, but this is just unconstitutional per the 8th Amendment.
4
What is one of the most vile polices in this country is the allowing of "for-profit" prisons. I don't believe it's necessary to list the myriad reasons why allowing them is not only unethical but truly evil as well. What I will remind readers is that in most cases these persons who are incarcerated will be freed and it is and has always been in the interest of society at large to work towards rehabilitation rather than simple punishment. We have already created thousands of monsters who not only didn't learn one thing during their incarceration that might benefit them once they are released but in fact came out far worse and more dangerous than they did when they entered. We simply don't care about those that once incarcerated, fade into the background forever. Allowing for-profit companies into our criminal justice system fills me with anger and complete disgust. I repudiate anyone who posits the mistaken notion that anyone will be benefited by these privately administered institutions other than the few shareholders of those grotesque companies which run these hell holes.
234
The real, most basic question is :"Why is this even considered legal in the framework of the various Civil Rights amendments to the US Constitution /BIll of Rights?
Most if not all of these individuals are made to work-many to pay for their own incarceration, and are paid pennies a day or a week. Few Americans are aware that the "right" of prisoners to use tobacco, as all other non incarcerated, or non inmates in the USA, are instantly and permanently violated inside prisons and that no inmate, in any prison in the US, is allowed to smoke or otherwise use tobacco, although all the guards and most or all of the "trustys" are permitted the privilege.
This amounts to the use of addictive drugs and narcotics to be used as a punishment , a torture and a reward system, one that makes the Oblast system in the USSR seem generous.
Far too many Americans believe that taking tobacco away from inmates-while allowing the guards to use it -is doing the inmates a favor(!!!) This is how most US drug addiction "clinics" once functioned in the years before methadone became the treatment gold standard in NY, NJ and Mass. (or parts of thse & other states).
However, many anti smoking groups have insinuated themselves into our prison systems, now and instituted anti smoking punishments and rules. Rules don't affect guards-and thus openly enforce a system whereby inmates must watch guards, smoke, have sex with inamtes of their choice and remind prisoners that these are Democrat institutedrules.
"I repudiate anyone who posits the mistaken notion that anyone will be benefited by these privately administered institutions other than the few shareholders of those grotesque companies which run these hell holes."
The people living in the counties whose economy depends on the prison, for example. Isn't the whole system essentially a rural development program to generate employment in the remote areas where those prisons are located? Isn't that the reason for the absurdly high prison sentences, besides a justice system with an emphasis on the victim perspective? And then, outsourcing prisons to private companies makes the whole thing more cost efficient, the government gets rid of its responsibility for the prisoners, the people running a company sarcastically called "Management & Training" will donate for election campaigns, and the congressmen from Meridian, Mississippi will be popular at home for securing the jobs of a number of local moms and dads. At the expense of the black single mom who struggles to feed her kids and spends 10 years in that kind of prison for credit card fraud.
Over here in Germany we have special public funding programs for economically struggling regions, at national level and EU level. There are also subsidies for companies. Call me a socialist, but a bit of that might be a better idea than having the prison-industrial complex (and the military-industrial complex).
2
This needs to be seen a cautionary tale when government duties are privatized under the guise of saving the taxpayer money. While some government duties could be privatized, most should not. As I read this story, I shudder to think what would happen should the GOP achieve its goal to privatize the Department of Veteran Affairs.
9
We should know better by now. In 2014 the FBI began to investigate a private prison company Corrections Corporation of America which ran what Idaho inmates called "Gladiator School" because of a violent reputation they say understaffing helped create.
The "kids for cash" scandal unfolded in 2008 over judicial kickbacks at the Luzerne County Court of Common Pleas in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania. Two judges, President Judge Mark Ciavarella (who served as juvenile court judge from 1996 to 2008) and Senior Judge Michael Conahan (who served as President Judge from 2003 to 2007), were convicted of accepting money from Robert Mericle, builder of two private, for-profit youth centers for the detention of juveniles, in return for contracting with the facilities and imposing harsh adjudications on juveniles brought before their courts to increase the number of residents in the centers.(Wikipedia)
There are more incidents. Just follow the money.
12
It's always in so many things , by so many ways and behind so many reasons and the cause of so much hurt and hardship...
Too many wanting to follow , make and take the MONEY.
America's greatest Prophet remains making Profit despite the terrible cost of Worship.
3
This is beyond sickening, but sadly, just another day in red state america. Mississippi's teachers are the worst paid in the country. Their citizens are the least healthy. The state gets over $2 for every dollar they give to the federal government. It's a downward spiral from every angle.
We should have some sort of economic test in our country, that if certain standards are not met, you lose your representatives in congress. Why Mississippi gets two senators is beyond me. The state has nothing to offer.
26
Barbarism and cruelty reflective of a medieval dungeon, yet we think ourselves civilized and humane. Management & Training Corporation has the markings of a criminal organization that is in collusion with the Mississippi State government to deny basic Hyman rights to inmates, most of whom are black. The federal Department of Justice should investigate this conspiracy for profit between MTC and those Mississippi officials responsible to determine whether federal RICO laws (criminal racketeering) have been violated. If so found, those state officials and corporate offericers engaged in this criminal enterprise should be arrested, tried and if convicted at trial should be scented to years in federal prison. Hold these criminals to account.
16
District Attorney Jeff Rosen, Germany has a much lower crime rate and fewer people in prison than the United States. How does Germany do that? Is it because their prisons are different than ours? Is there anything we could learn from them?
Watch on https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wtV5ev6813I&t=247s
2
Yeah...that will never happen.Because none of Americas biggest and/or real Criminals are ever held to account.
They just laugh all the way to the Bank and open up an account.
Or illegally open up a few million false accounts of existing clients and profit from them and if caught...
Never really held to account...like most of the Police who kill...
In America Justice is increasingly a Deaf, Dumb Blind Co Conspirator on the take and a Stool Pigeon to its own values which have been debased to nothing of value always Innocent and never proved guilty of the crimes it makes and protects itself with and by as it charges others for the sins it can never confess to committing in the courts that never have a mirror so some of the biggest Criminals can ever be seen in the reflection of their own crimes by themselves or by others looking the other way or all moral values silenced by their pay or proceeds of their crime.
3
Jail in America is increasingly a for profit business, and as a result, it more and more resembles the jails of the third world.
Mississippi is just leading the way.
21
Perhaps we should ask ourselves, who would want to be a prison guard and who are responding to that call. Obviously the job does not attract the brightest or best candidates. We cage prisoners as though they are wild animals, what kind of response are we really expecting?
10
The same one that is shown by far too many Police. And so easily shown in greed by far too many Employers and all the others that follow the great American Prophet...PROFIT.
1
Absolutely the wrong idea. Prisons for profit violate the very principle of imprisonment. Trump has no understanding of this country and our principles.
14
trump has no understanding. end of sentence
3
if Trump gets more private prisons he will not be doing a favor for his family and friends when they all end up in one.
8
Some facts:
Only 19% of the Federal prisons are private, Only 6.8 of the state prison systems are private
There are approiximately 1.5 million Federal and State prisoners, there are another 800,000 prisoners housed in local and county jails or juvenile halls and less than 1% are private.
People who are housed in State and Federal prisons are people who have comitted major crimes, often repeated, often violent crimes (perhaps that is obvious by the picture accompanying this article, yes?)
Cecille B. Demille said: "You cannot break the law, you can only break yourself against the law." Here is a law. I understand the law, I understand the penalty for breaking the law. I break it anyway. Now I am in prison. It is unsafe, unsanitary, often violent. I put myself here. Not the "prison industrial complex," (a moment please while I quit laughing), not rich white people, not "the system." Me. I am the painter, I am the painting,
Of all the progressive liberal bleating here and elsewhere I see nothing about the dead and maimed and terrorized victims of this population. The FBI Reports that there are 1.4 million gang members in 33,000 gangs in the U.S.
These are not members of the welcome wagon, not members of the Kiwanis.
In 1911 the CDC came out with an exhaustive study that concluded that 80% of all non suicidal gun violence occurs among gangs. We don't have nearly enough prisons.
2
"In 1911 the CDC came out with an exhaustive study that concluded that 80% of all non suicidal gun violence occurs among gangs. We don't have nearly enough prisons."
Are you sure this study was done in 1911?
1
The CDC is not allowed to study gun violence, thanks to the ceaseless efforts by the concerned citizens of the NRA, so 1911 might actually be correct.
1
Thank youfor the correction. I meant 2011 or more correctly 2010-2011. There is no provision for editing.
1
From 1930 until 1980 the prison population was stable at roughly 200,000. Then came the Reagan Administration's law and order campaign (or as I prefer to call it 'divide and conquer'). The United States leads THE WORLD in the number and percentage of those incarcerated - over 2 million souls.
Is there something wrong with this picture? How staggeringly disheartening that this is on the front page of the NYTimes the same day as the coverage of MLK, Jr. - a man who died so that such travesties against all humanity not happen.
27
Mississippi should be ashamed of only spending only $9500.00 a year on prisoners. Alabama spends $15,000 a year. Will Mississippi ever treat their people decently? Get rid of these for profit prisons.
My dad came from Mississippi and it was a stink hole then and remains one to this day.
7
The average amount divided among all states spent on a pupils education for a year is $10,000. That includes Teacher salaries , support staff, facilities buildings and repair to name a few.
So about what Mississippi spends on a Prisoner.
Seems America's priorities are shameful on both groups wellbeing.
1
Having seen this video I stand by my belief that violence begets violence. Private Prisons are in it to make a profit not to care about prisoners. They do not rehabilitate as European Prisons are. I've seen how Sweden,Norway and Germany treating their prisoners on 60 minutes. Why can we not focus on treating them as humans. The recidivism in those prisons are almost rear, in contrast to here. Having the most amount of prisoners per population in this country is it not time to admit we are doing something wrong?
11
People do not care about what happens to prisoners. The care that prisoners get is a big as their circle of immediate family and best friends. The smaller the circle, the easier it is for the prison system and other prisoners to neglect/abuse that inmate. And you better believe it happens, all of the time. But again, there aren't enough people to care, and those not involved assume the inmate guilty and deserving of suffering, never mind just penalty. The privatization of prison means less scrutiny and regulation than the already minimal efforts provided by our city, state, and federal systems. Private prisons also need to show a profit, so that means the beds need to be filled. More penalties accrued while in prison equals more time added to the sentence. So in the long run, fights and blood and all that violence --even suicide watches -- keep the private prisons alive. Job security. The same is true for the state, but at least legally to a lesser legally defensible degree. What do you think is meant by "in the system"? Private prisons are a manifestation of mental illness, but not the prisoners -- the larger culture's.
9
No worse than NY’s own Rikers.
4
I believe that Rikers Island is due to be closed. In contrast, the push to move to for-profit prisons is accelerating. How does it make sense to dismiss one atrocity by saying, in effect, "Yeah, but others are worse"? Is this the new American standard?
2
Privatization in of itself is not inherently bad, the problem is that it always seems to come with drastic reductions in oversight. It is argued that the school or prison can’t be cost effective if is has to be bothered by government inspectors and the money would be better spent on the inmates. Of course what happens is that the taxpayers wind up paying the same or more on promises of better services inevitably to find out that things like this are going on. It would be like getting rid of the IRS with the expectation that taxpayers would continue to voluntarily send money to the government.
3
I watched the video with mixed feelings. Of course it is sick and inexcusable that a guard filmed that (even zooming in) and did nothing to stop it. I have to wonder what the purpose of that is. To cover liability? But as a law abiding person, my main thought when viewing the video was that the monsters doing that vicious beating do need to be in prison. They are where they should be. I’m glad they are locked up. I cannot fathom how anyone could be so violent. One guy even appears to slip in fluid on the floor. Blood?
6
but what about the victim?
9
The culture of prison is an invention of the prison systems. While there are inmates who may be beyond hope, the majority are not. The fact that they have to live in an atmosphere where these most troubling inmates are allowed to unleash such violence on the inmates contributes nothing to making better people that are ready to return to society to become productive citizens.
4
Yes, what about the victims? I mean the utterly blameless mothers and fathers and sisters and brothers who might well have been raped or robbed or beaten or shot to death by that "victim" on the floor.
Jesus, lots of pharisees in the audience tonight......
What ever happened to the Reformatory ?.............as in reform; thru education, life skills training, core values remediation ?
Oh, I forgot................prisons are a business.
My bad.
Greed wins and society looses, all at the cost of human suffering.
22
Hey, how can you make a ton of money for yourself if you waste in on decent human care for inmates and adequate wages for guards and other prison personnel? Why in God's name was anyone so stupid that they thought privately owned and run prisons was a good idea?
24
They didn't think t was a good idea, it was an easy way to make them millionaires with no oversight or rules and regulations that Federal prisons are subject to.
Same for all privatization - it's never a good idea when profit margins are more important than people. It's also a way to steal tax-payers money and siphon it off into a few people's pockets.
Profiteers in misery are the fastest growing economy in the US.
1
They weren't that stupid. They were that greedy.
2
The same ones that thought similar things for private for Profit Health Care being a good idea.
1
Prisoners should be helped and rehabilitated. This will just foster resentment and create an even bigger problem for society when the person is released. This is just barbaric!
19
We have to face the fact that the credo of America now is to privatize and profitize---everything possible, prisons, health care, schools and colleges, etc.
This credo leads to crime against we the people becoming normalized. Then the effort to fight privatization destroying the public interest is simply termed big govt, or the road to socialism. Private profit is then said to be the protector of our 'freedom and liberty'. etc.
A total contradiction of the whole purpose of democracy itself, which is to prtect majority rights against abuse by special interests.
Our privatized campaign finance system supplies the role model.
25
Just like with health care, correctional detention should never be privatized. The obligations of the state and the priorities of corporations are diametrically opposed. The state’s responsibility is to ensure the welfare of its citizens. The priorities of corporations are to minimize costs and maximize profits. The reality of private prisons is that they represent human rights abuses and violations. Additionally, prison labor forces provide extra incentives for prolonging incarceration and legalized slavery. Given that the majority of the prison populations are people of color, this situation is as heinous as it is racist.
The report is illuminating, however, these inmates have no champion, national advocate, or movement to propel meaningful change. America is no longer who it purports itself to be. Land of the free, home of the brave? This is a land where the quality of life for most is subordinate to profit for the few.
19
How are "Private Prisons" Constitutional.
What is wrong with the Federal Courts ?
10
The only reason to back this loser of a plan, has to be investment from Trump and Sessions. Obviously Sessions, he is low rent compared to the Donald.
2
It is truly disheartening...the many ways in which this once Greatest Nation on Earth, has lost its way. Decent education is out of reach for all but the well-off, or those lucky enough to secure a fully-paid grant. Lack of well-paying jobs means many are working multiple part-time jobs. Lack of affordable housing in many cities. Medical costs are through the roof. Gun violence in our cities (typically gang-related) as well as rural areas (typically 'accidental' shootings where children got hold of a loaded weapon or else it's a mass shooting...)
We have a for-profit prison system which means that the focus is on earnings and 'punishment', versus accountability of the prisons themselves and the guards, or true 'rehabilitation' of prisoners.
It is in our own self-interest to create a better prison system, to ensure that ex-cons are equipped to survive back on the streets....once they are back in society. An educated ex-con...one who has been provided mental health access, a social worker to help with resume writing, job opportunities, finding housing etc. ...such an ex-con is better for society. However, instead we stupidly focus on the 'punishment' element, while offering nothing else to these people once they are released. We then act 'surprised' when these ex-cons revert back to lives of crime. What do we expect, when many ex-cons are unable to get a job, find secure housing, have no social support, no mental health care, etc?
The US is imploding.
14
Memo to Mississippi voters: we are past deciding what to call you, now we are only negotiating the price.
8
It is rare that any prison is a site of decency and humane behavior, both by prisoners and guards. That is true regardless whether the prison is operated by the government or private entity.
But there is something especially depraved and evil about private persons and companies who punish and imprison people, even if they don't mistreat them in the process of doing so. Private prisons should not be permitted to exist regardless how humane they are or how much more efficient they are than the government. Only government should be in the dirty business of punishing people.
13
Greatest country in the world? Seriously?
12
The ugly truth is that the US has never been the greatest country in the world. Never.
2
I'm pretty conservative. If you had the inmates working on a chain gang, I wouldn't care much but this is wrong. You're putting people's lives at risk.
2
There is an old saying in the corrections industry, that the only difference between the inmates and the guards are the uniforms. Watch video and you know this is true. Got to hand to the citizens of Ole Miss. one of the least educated states in America, what are they 49th on list of money spent for education. No wonder why things as seen the video take place. I wonder if the United States would be better off is they allowed Mississippi, Alabama; Georgia and other southern states of secede and form their own country with the confederate flag new nation's symbol.
6
"Lawyers for the state say the stories should be treated with skepticism."
Yep, blood all over the floors means the stories should be treated with skepticism. The blood got there because of all the peace and serenity of the place.
21
This is ‘the mob’ running the show. It does not surprise to read that the prisoners rule because, truth be known, the Mafia is afraid of the Latin gangs and lets them satisfy their blood thirst behind bars any way they want...to pacify them.
3
Mississippi is a microcosm of what's wrong with the United States: most people are poor or at the lowest wage class, and while there is a small middle class, there is a larger, more affluent class that holds most of the wealth and all of the power.
And yes, most of that upper class is white, and the powerholders are largely male.
No surprises there though, eh?
13
Be interesting to know who are those cruel owners of these prisons. Anyone know who they are and how they live? Privatization is never good for the average citizens. Its been proven time and again. It will ruin collective bargaining, bring down wages. In turn we finally are forced to take those jobs left behind by the "illegals" who cross our borders to pick our strawberries and apples and lettuce, who are send back by this greedy President. Trump reign is here. Trump knows because he frequently didn't pay the workers what was owed them. When you are suit, you countersuit with 200 lawyers on you side. No chance a worker to win.
3
The maximum sentence for a manslaughter in Finland is 10 years. A first timer serves 5. The inmate has access to education etc. More human, less re-crimes, way cheaper...
25
Different demographics and different country.
On the other hand, the person murdered by the one convicted of manslaughter will be dead for all eternity and those who love the victim will suffer a terrible wound in their spirits where the one they loved once was, and that wound will never heal.
If you deliberately take the life of another, you should pay for that with your liberty for the rest of your life. You have stolen that which you must not steal.
Let's see now. how can we translate "different demographics" as voiced by a man from Virginia?
4
With 5% of humans, the 2.3 million Americans in prison are 25% of the world's prisoners. And 40% are black even though only 13% of Americans are black. Blacks are imprisoned for doing the same things while black that whites do without any criminal justice consequences.
Why isn't this Mississippi prison not engaged in 'cruel and unusual punishment' that violates the Eighth Amendment?
Why are there any private prisons?
What is a 'correctional facility'?
24
Private Prisons exist as Profit Centers for investors like Dick Cheney and gang.
The same people who decide which among us will be incarcerated, which laws will apply to whom, are the investors in these systems. Traded on the stock exchanges by morally flexible investors.
5
Blackmamba: Not true. From MA DOC for 2015: "White 4,152 / Black 2,732 / Hispanic 2,516 / Asian 132 .
Great legislative work in Mississippi! They made sure the law requires a 10% savings for the private prison company to get the contract but did nothing in terms of performance requirements for that company. Our failure, at the State and Federal level, to be willing to fund pensions, pay our teachers, fix the roads and bridges, and not do all that by adding to our debt is going to destroy this great country.
8
Privatization of our various systems will be the end of America as we have known it.
And yet Republicans are propagandizing that Democrats are trying to change America.
8
How many guards would it take to calm that situation down? How well trained and equipped and paid would hey need to be? How much Prozac or Valium or Bourbon you have to knock back after a fun day at the office?
I am not sure private prison or public prison is the issue. Looks like the person on the wrong end of that situation had upset a whole slew of inmates as he had apparently a lot of enemies. Hard for me to sit here and propose that a few guards go hop in the middle of it. Armed with what?
Yes. It is messed up. We have the same problem with Law Enforcement.
Underpaid. Under staffed. Under trained. Watch Flint Town. There are populations and sections of the USA that are practically beyond hope and we are for now somewhat lucky anyone wants to deal with it. Think America is First World? Time to disabuse yourself of that.
6
As a juror, I always start from the position that a:
1) The person is innocent, and
2) All the cops and prosecutors and, sometimes even the judge, are crooks...because many are law enforcement officials are criminals.
Private for-profit prisons should be banned since a convict criminal should be incarcerated by the government, not by some Walmart-like corporation which is beholden to no one but the shareholders.
Once again, a shameful moment to be an American.
15
All cops and prosecuters and even the Judges are crooks
How have YOU managed to stay out of prison? Is there corruption? Yes. Is the preponderance of the criminal justice system "on the take?" No.
I will say that you are in the right venue for hyperbole and bloviating and ignorance, though. An echo chamber with 108 voices all saying the same erroneous things......
You should not be on a jury.
The conditions described here are truly horrific, but it's not even the half of the human rights abuses that goes on in private prisons in the U.S. In 2016 a reporter from Mother Jones went undercover as a prison guard in a private prison in Louisiana, and his account of what happened during his 4 months there is the stuff of nightmares. I had to pause while reading it at several points because it was so disturbing. I'd recommend reading it, even if just to understand how the abuses in the Times article could occur.
https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2016/06/cca-private-prisons-correct...
11
Thanks for the link to the article. My mouth hung open in shock for much of the story.
4
At least one of these prisons -- the most horrific -- must be preserved for Trump, Sessions and their spawn.
6
when will these atrocities be corrected? are we as a nation this cruel to those that have been convicted?? do the inmates have to have their own re-enactments of 'attica' level riots to get our attention to the inhumane barbarity that they endure??? have we fallen that far, where we just put these issues out of our collective consciences in order to live with ourselves????
4
The Red states are beyond help. No amount of evidence will convince them to vote in their own best interest and against the Republican party, which is the greatest social ill America has ever faced.
12
Is the writer telling us that some prisoners are dangerous, violent people? Strange because hasn't every other NYT article on prisons over been trying to tell us that prisoners are all sensitive, delicate, wounded little flowers who shouldn't be incarcerated at all and who really deserve 8 year scholarships to Stanford or Harvard. The fact that there is violence problem in prisons seems to contradict NYT's usual narrative.
3
Somehow you read a report describing the testimony in criminal couture and ended up accusing the NYT of something vaguely incoherent. Maybe your fortune will change and you will have the benefit of experiencing the type of cruelty and neglect fostered by an elected government in one our least modern states. It amazes me to read what the takeaway message can be for some.
3
you don't seem to have understood the stories.
2
Being convicted of a crime does not mean relinquishing one's innate human rights to your jailor. Shame on anyone suggesting otherwise.
When working class white men felt neglected and "left behind," trump was elected and everyone got exited about bringing back good jobs, making America great, and making America number one. What about women and people with dark skins who have been largely forgotten about, ignored, and left behind for many, many years. (As an aside -- right now many retail workers are losing their jobs. Are we going to bring back retail?) The fact is for many women and people with dark skins, nobody in this country cares and, in fact, there are some people who want to see the government make it tougher on immigrants, the poor, dark-skinned people, etc. In southern politics it has been the practice for many, many years to run against the "other" -- to make life tough for some while being solicitous for the wealthy and well-connected. Of course, this is generally done with code words.
Running prisons for profit goes along with policing for profit. Civil asset forfeiture is a handy tool for the police to steal cash, cars, and other assets. Back in the late 1800's and early 1900's we had the convict leasing system in some states. People could be locked up and then rented out to farmers, factories, etc. Strange things can happen when a profit motive is introduced. Look at the healthcare system and what the profit motive has done for it?
5
Private Prison facilities are profit driven. Their focus is on money not the welfare of prisoners. This is criminal in itself. It should be against the law.
10
Infrastructure is a lot more than potholes and crumbling bridges. Prisons, public schools, government checks and balances, the power grid in Puerto Rico, and elections are all part of American infrastructure.
Under Republican government, we are in decline across the board.
9
More incentive now than ever to heed the warning about not doing the crime if you can't do the time.
2
In states with private prisons, failure to pay a ticket (which are incredibly high and have no payment plant setup) results in jail. Not losing the right to drive, not collections. Jail. Who runs those jails? Private companies. The penalties for non violent crime are much higher too.
Its easy to mouth platitudes about "don't do the crime if you cant handle the time", but theres a world of difference between sitting behind bars in an unpleasant but safe environment doing your time, and being locked up in something akin to a mideval dungeon where your life is constantly in danger, whether from other inmates, or even something as simple as an illness or wound being untreated.
People in jail for minor non violent things like drug possession, passing bad checks, etc dont deserve this. Even the worst of the worst deserves to be locked up in a safe place where they cant harm themselves or others. Jail shouldnt be pleasant, but it shouldnt be torture either.
2
The only way to make a profit is to cut back on staff, salaries, food, medical care, which are all safety items. There are volumes of corrections case law, whomever places the inmate in the facility is ultimately liable.
3
Sickening to read. I've never understood the concept of privately run prisons. Prisons should be run by the government who convicted the person and is charged with that person's care.
4
The only solution is to shut down these prisons immediately. Full stop. Mississippi does not know how to function as a government entity any longer. There have been too many decades of poverty stricken municipalities without relief. The dysfunction is endless. Mississippi believes that poverty works and privatization makes the poor better. It's a fake state, lost in the blood and death of their prisons.
8
After reading this story about the violation of the most basic human rights in America, violations that are ongoing as I read, no other story seems to matter today.
3
It happens everyday
Oh, I am sure that if you bother to look you can find a story about an elderly couple bludgeoned to death in a home invasion, or a three year old strarved and beaten to death by a stepfather who wasn't getting enough respect. or a drunk driver with five convictions getting behind the wheel yet again and plowing into a crowd of school children. See, those are stories about VICTIMS, get it? How much more of a violation of human rights do you need?
This is one time I agree with most of the commenters. I would like to see all privatization of prisons and jails come to a halt. I guess it will take a series of lawsuits to resolve.
6
I don't understand why anybody could be surprised, amazed after reading this article. This is the same government and justice system that decided to disregard the Geneva Convention and start torturing prisoners. It was justified based on some legalize by a Phd. Then they opened separate prison in Cuba because (maybe) they could do things that would not be legal on US soil. This is our system, private prisons make perfect sense.
7
Private prisons should not exist. The idea that one human being can profit financially from the imprisonment of a another human being is immoral. Incarcerating our fellow citizens should be painful for all of us. No one's portfolio should improve because the prison population increases. Yet that's what's happening. Worse, imagine a judge owning stock in a private prison. It's sick.
8
Profiteering private prison corporations are cashing in on the misery and desperation of U.S. citizens .The disconnect between public good and private profit is not in the social good of the minimum necessary number of inmates but in having as many as possible housed as cheaply as possible.
Private prison corporations always claim that they will save millions. A good study by the Bureau of Justice Assistance of the U.S. Department of Justice concluded that savings“have simply not materialized.To the extent that private prisons do manage to save money, they do so through reductions in trained staff, fringe benefits and other labor-related costs.”
The standard technique of privatization: defund government services to make sure things don’t work & people get angry, then hand it over to private capital. It’s not long until privatization falls short in quality service because the private program employs fewer& less trained guards & others & pays them badly. Frequently, horror stories accompany how these jails are run.
Let's demand that private corporations be removed from the administration of all of our public prison programs. Privatization of jail services increases costs without any corresponding increase in quality or care. NYT's Paul Krugman says that “as more & more government functions get privatized, states become ‘pay-to-play paradises in which both political contributions & contracts for friends & relatives become quid pro quo for getting government business.”
4
There’s your private industry efficiency: low costs, high profits. Human beings aren’t really a consideration, except as another overhead to be eliminated.
And we are in the process of applying this to every essential public institution: from education to disease control to national secuirty.
2
Land of the free, home of the brave, indeed.
2
For Jeff Sessions and probably Trump, why would they care about the humane treatment of prisoners when they hope to populate said prisons with only people of color? And both men believe that all people of color are criminals of the worst kind and so are deserving of what they get.
Add in the DOJ under Sessions promoting harsh sentences for people of color to further erode the African American communities. And, while making sure that institutional racism is alive and well in our prison system, why not benefit from it?
The private prison industry is just another avenue for white (usually male) Americans to profit from the government. Get the government judiciary to send you a steady stream of prisoners and profits are guaranteed! And I would bet the white prisoners work in call centers and nary a brown or black prisoner does.
It's disgusting that this is happening. Please contribute to the ACLU so that they can fight on behalf of the abused prisoners when no one else does.
2
If one is convicted and sentenced to prison in the deep south, the most appealing recourse is suicide.
For-profit prisons. Endless police brutality without consequences. "President" Trump. Our society has gone down a VERY wrong path!...how will we effect course correction???
2
“We can say — unequivocally — that the facility is safe, secure, clean, and well run,” Issa Arnita, a spokesman for the company.
Think Issa, or whoever wrote the statement should check in anonymously for a week or two to demonstrate their confidence in their facility.
3
Shame upon any country that allows private prisons.
Incarceration for profit is wrong.
2
I thought at first I was reading about prisons in China or North Korea or Iran. Boy, was I surprised the story is about prisons here in the States.
Being in prison is the punishment, not being denied one's humanity. What a shame the US refuses to correct it's justice and penal systems.
4
If a person treated animals like this, they could be arrested and prosecuted.
I'm not surprised at there being major problems with -prisons in general ( ( go back to the series on NYS prisons after the escape at Clinton) ) and for profit prisons in particular, but the brutality on the video - and that spoken of the prisoners quoted - are beyond what I imagined.
This has nothing to do with justice, nothing to do with public safety issues, but the ultimate in cruel and unusual punishment. These are the back wards of mental hospitals before reforms, beyond what Dickens could imagine. I can;t imagine how utterly hopeless people must feel - prisoners and workers both. This devalues humanity
15
Dick Cheney, family and friends, were proponents of many of the laws that caused incarceration rates to grow and their investments in for-profit private prisons to grow as well. DiversityInc in 2010 wrote extensively about this:
For decades, private-prison companies have been active members of a powerful lobby responsible for numerous laws that have put millions of people behind bars. In large part because of these laws, the country's prison population has ballooned from 500,000 in 1980 to 2.3 million in 2009, greater than that of any other nation in the world.
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Apparently, Cheney, et al tapped into a lucrative national resource! The Clintons set the stage for this booming prison economy. Tyranny is bipartisan.
So, Dick Cheney is responsible for these abuses. Dream on.
Is anyone surprised by this news?
18
I am not surprised by this news Cornflower Rhys. Any time an article confirms and writes about the abuse, torture and/or murder of a victim, whether that victim is a human or an animal, my heart breaks a bit. As a society, I would hope we would be filled with more compassion than the greed for money or capacity to inflict extreme pain and suffering to another living creature.
3
Unbelievable! And, this is the good ole' USA?
Our government has turned into a for-profit system Republic for politicians at levels at the expense of ordinary citizens. In other words, a Fascist Nation. The corruption is horrifying.
A completely different philosophy needs to take over the American prison system that models that of Europe and includes rehabilitation, education, and retraining so prisoners become useful citizens after serving their sentence.
This is not just about Mississippi. Trump and his administration seem hell bent on destroying our most cherished institutions. They bring out the worst with focus on self, money and profits rather than the common good.
This is another example of what's wrong with this country as it swiftly declines into a third world nation. Easiest remedy, put all of US Congress and Mississippi State Legislature into these prisons for two weeks and let them experience life on the inside.
54
Reality check dont blame are representives only represnt us deploarable. We all have choice in what happens in usa . You can buy imports knowing they cost americans there jobs or you can refuse to use all imports. personlly i dont think americans can handle truth.
More privatization evil. Most prisons, private and unionized, are little more than torture chambers, but the private ones have no oversight whatsoever, and given the Supreme Court's ruling, as told in this newspaper today on yet another death of a female prisoner by a cop, the hell that is prison in America is only going to get much, much worse.
36
For-profit prisons are part of the ALEC et al push toward incarceration and criminalization of poor, immigrant, other populations - they parallel the laws against sanctuary cities, etc http://www.diversityinc.com/diversity-management/who-profits-from-the-pr...
23
Correct.
This horror has been going on right before the American people for years. We are treating these men like they are not human just for profit. Regardless of their crimes we are committing crimes against humanity as we judge other countries who do the same.
When we take away someone’s freedom that is the justice not the brutality that is inflicted and that is presumably after a fair trial which some never receive.
This is another example of a decline in a civilized society where we are complicit.
It does not have to be this way.
33
Anyone surprised? Trump has already privatized the Presidency.
22
Let's take a breath and remember that for profit prisons flourished under another GOP administration - if you didn't invest in them when W was POTUS, you missed the boat.
9
Here’s hoping DJT gets first hand experience with the inhumanity of these prisons. Soon.
2
Hey: let’s privatize the VA too!
What could go wrong?
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4 out of 5 inmates have a serious psychiatric disorder. And of course Mississippi refuses to expand Medicaid coverage which would have the federal government pay for outpatient Mental Health services for these poor men.
Out of sight, out of mind is the default position politicians take on issues involving those under the care and control of our elected government. Please keep up your excellent reporting on this nation wide problem.
30
We are living in a police state. A state where the privileged few have everything and the rest of us have too little and are suffering torture and degradation on a daily basis and our president wants MORE! The Republican motto " ALL FOR US NONE FOR YOU " is not even accurate anymore. Now it is not only all for us but it is also "everything you do is illegal, everything we do is legal" It is time for a revolution in this country. I always said violence was not the answer. Now it is!
23
Perfervid, hyperbolic and very unpersuasive.
But go ahead and continue advocating for violent revolution. You will get a close look at Attica or even, possibly, East Mississippi.
Private prisons run on the same economic model as do motels. Empty beds equal less money so in order to keep beds filled prison staff have every incentive to charge an inmate with a rule infraction, real or not. This automatically keeps an inmate in prison longer and prevents a timely discharge. It's a common practice in private prisons.
If your state has private prisons you will find that either the governor or the legislators or both are invested in the corporations who run these private prisons.
That these corporations are listed on the NYSE should tell you that there is an enormous amount of money at stake here and the politicians are after their share of it.
Shame on them.
49
Somewhere, their owners and chief officers are living in expensive housing, and being treated.most likely, as pillars of the community. And contributors to a certain party.
1
Tragically, prisons are promoted in Mississippi as a source of jobs for low-skill workers, who make about the same money as fast food workers. Being a prison guard is very hard work under even the most favorable circumstances, and the deplorable conditions at these prisons are far from favorable.
Many low income Black men in Mississippi - both incarcerated folks and "guards" - feel disposable. They know that society doesn't care about them. Who can tell them that they're wrong?
Horrible.
33
NYS spends almost 80K per year per prisoner. There has to be a better way.
9
That's the other extreme.
You can thank the guards' union.
1
Less prisoners?
What a terrifying thought that prisoners on death row are safer and live longer in a Federal Pen than inmates doing regular time in a privately run prison.
23
Nauseating.
Most of these inmates had a poor education and are now in the worst prison. US in in a race to the bottom.
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An even more convincing common factor: they all committed serious crimes, regardless of education.
But they're almost all male, too, and in that, not at all representative of the general population. Usually, this garners an extremely judgmental response from the left that *of course* there are more men because more of them commit crimes. I guess analysis arguing discrimination based on immutable characteristics has its limits, after all
Upwards of seventy percent of that population came from single mothers in poverty. But I'm not allowed to mention that, what with a woman's reproductive rights and all......
Trump already won that race........
The horrible conditions and treatment described in this article all occur by design. This is what austerity economic policy looks like.
States like Mississippi can no longer provide the most basic services. Nearby in Oklahoma the school week has been cut to four days. Teachers work two and three jobs to make ends meet. The estimate by certified engineers is that it will take 3 trillion dollars to make our water systems safe. The Trump budget only plans for 1.5 trillion for all projects.
We have crossed the tipping point where spending on guns has turned spending on butter into a starvation budget.
Today these untreated inmates attack each other. Tomorrow it may be the guards and then most will return to society in worse condition than when they went in. By then it will be too late. Some call this being penny wise and pound foolish. Others describe it as the chickens coming home to roost. I call it the inherent cruelty of neoliberal economics.
34
could we call it neo-conservative economics? Because Cheney, and the people cited by DiversityInc a decade ago as the movers and shakers and profiteers are not gonna like being called liberals of any genre: In 2009, 826 of ALEC model legislations were introduced in states and 115 were enacted. Although CCA executives are currently not chairing ALEC's criminal-justice task force, one of its top executives, Laurie Shanblum, the senior director of partnership development, is an active member.
Sitting alongside Shanblum on this task force is Russell Pearce, the Arizona senator who sponsored SB1070.
The industry's political connections and the endless revolving door between the private-prison industry and the government have raised eyebrows over the years.
8
People who are treated humanely will behave humanely. People who are treated terribly will act badly. It is human nature. Why do we not see prisoners as people who deserve respect? That is what they are, and if we change our attitude towards them, it will be better for everyone.
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Murder, armed robbery, armed home invasion, car jacking. heroin trafficking,
What were you saying about somebody treating somebody humanely?
I have a great Idea, why don't you come down here to Atlanta and take a spin down to the bluff or the Boulevard at 2 AM and proceed to treat the inhabitants "Humanely." Jeez, I just noticed you're from Chicago. Well that's fine I'm sure you know where to go. Take the Lexus......
For-profit privately owned and operated prisons should be unconstitutional. Period.
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Trump will try to privatize as much as he can while he can. The Post Office will be next on the hit list.
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“Asked if the guards were supposed to keep inmates in their cells, he said, wearily, “They do their best.”
This article is beyond terrifying. The extreme physical & emotional abuse so many prisoners suffer on a daily basis is horrendous. Each prisoner is serving time for the crime they committed. They should not be living in constant fear for their lives nor feel each day is like death row, wondering if today they will die.
If these are the kinds of scenarios which are occurring in the Management & Training Corporation, “the private company that runs the East Mississippi facility” as well as operating “two federal prisons and more than 20 facilities around the nation”, then perhaps a class action lawsuit should be demanded by the families of the prisoners against this corporation for the grossly mismanaged and life threatening conditions which are allowed to exist within these prisons.
It is unbelievable that President Trump and AG Sessions continues to support privatization of prisons even after the Justice Department found these prisons “more violent than government-run institutions for inmates and guards alike” in a 2016 report.
If what is happening in these prisons is any indication of how privatization operates and is tolerated, then I am deeply terrified and troubled if Trump gets his way and privatizes the V.A. Our veterans have paid a heavy price already; must they be subjected to similar inhumane and neglectful treatment as well?
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you are justified in your fear, since Trump and Sessions seem to truly care nothing for much outside of their own financial and political gain.
2
SHAME ON US, AMERICA !
5
Privatization is at odds with a public good. If a profit needs to be made then the end goal will always suffer. The only reason to privatize a public good is because some politician or his buddy want to make a buck. That's it.
3
What is this cell showed in the picture ?
Since when do the USA resort to using medieval like facilities ?
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Prisons should not be privatized. Period. Prisons are challenging enough to run without being worried about making a buck for shareholders. Most prisoners get released at some point. It's in everyone's best interest that prisoners are treated well and given opportunities for growth and change.
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Not to mention the morality of having lobbyists for these places extending campaign funding to politicians who favor more severe sentencing laws.
5
re: Anne
You have not been reading about rends in American incarceration. The concept that prisons should ever attempt to make the lives of inmates better or, attempt to aid them to become better eductated and thus more effective citizens then the people who beat, hold, torute and elongate their sentences is a movment that has long ago ceased to be considered legitimate. Prison guard unions now resent and have for decades, any attempt by bleeding heart Libers or Democrats to keep prisoners from the cycle of imprionment-parole-reimprionment and so on until death or the inmates are finally senteced to "life without parole" as habitual criminals-this usually means someone who had a beer or visited their home neighborhood, and were arrested as parole violaters, because their families were concidered off limits.
Basically, this is a thowback to the original parole mentality which held that keeping inamtes from alcohol, tobacco and or former outside contacts, was the best way to ensure they would stay on straight & Narrow path. In fact, this is impossible and is also in violation of UN guaranteed Human Rights laws. None of the prisoners has yet complained to the UN, yet.
Demopcrats and liberals need to decide what is more important: human rights or the desires of the WCTU,(Woman's Christian Temperance Union).
1
Would this same critique apply to public schools, which lose public funds
to private charter schools (as has happened extensively in Florida and other states), whose students study curricula that may not reflect a democratic society—while at the same time, part of their funding must be subtracted from funds transferred from public to charter schools, so as to provide profit for the owners of private educational businesses. Often a charter school will collapse, but those who ran it will escape with unearned profits...as happened with Donald Trump's New Jersey Casinos. I know, this last is an analogy within a similarity: but the basic process is an illegitimate business which operates for private profit rather than public good.
And the horrors of private-profit prisons surely dwarf those of publicly-financed private schools. But the basic idea is to enable extraction of
private profit must be extracted from institutions run for public good, where operators are not public employees and cannot be held responsible. One might even argue that Mr. Trump's Presidency provides public funds for The Trump Organization—whose goals are based in the owner's profit—which he holds to be private and inaccessible, while his own words and actions are not, so far, subject to any systematic connection to the public good.
1
Ok, so let me see. IN NY , with a very high level union system, we do not see evidence of sexual misconduct by guards, allowance of inmates to die of injection of chemicals, attacks by other prisoners. Please, let these "high minded" advocates on this page deal with issues in their own backyard. Also why do we nto see these videos from our own prisons? Donald Trump this, Mississippi that. Never Cuomo , Diblasio this, Rikers and unions that.
3
@"matthew, ny" Because Trump calls for more private for profit prisons- and doesn't give a fig about guilty or innocent (except where he, himself is concerned). Because Cuomo has helped investigate NY jails and called for reform and community programs to find 'jail alternatives.' Because DeBlasio and Cuomo know the difference between jail's - whose purpose is pre trial and arraignment - and prisons - which are post sentencing/conviction. Etc. etc. etc.
7
Matthew, there have been significant reviews and reports about Rikers Island. Even still, what does that have to do with this article. Should it be ignored because you think there are other prisons that are as bad or worse? That, I'm afraid, is not only silly its childish and, it demonstrates are serious lack of critical thinking.l
16
Similarly, who is the worse slum lord in NY? The NYC Housing Authority.
1
"Gloria Perry, who became the prison system’s chief medical officer in 2008, revealed that she had never been to the East Mississippi prison." Sounds just like Betsy DeVos stating that she has never visited an underperforming school.
Good God...
233
What does the MS Board of Medicial Licensure think of this "long range oversight "? One more example of "renting out" a medical license.
1
If Trump says he wants to do something you can bet it's wrong. The only reason he does anything is by impulse or it's what the right wing donor class wants which they channel through their sock puppets Mitch McConnell and Paul Ryan. Except for lust, there is no depth of thought going on in his bald head.
Trump is just a thug. The head of a relatively small criminal family he was bankrupt four times until he got into the casino business. He was only elected by lying, cheating and making promises he had no idea how to accomplish. He thinks of himself as Vito Corleone but he's really Fredo to the ultimate godfather and his probable criminal overlord, Vlad, (who knew from the beginning there would eventually be the metaphorical trip in the rowboat).
Every day that passes witnesses the further destruction of our nation from markets to environmental health to prisoner care to education to gun safety to reviving racism to attacks on tne media and law enforcment etc etc.
Hopefully all of his egregious mistakes are reversible.
PS And he shouldnt get his parade. Thats just plain stupid.
61
Just typical American callousness.
20
In Michigan, the food service company, Aramark, actually said there was nothing wrong with maggots in the inmates' food. The food service workers were spitting in the inmates' food, allowing rats to eat the food and defecate in it.
Things were so bad here, so fundamentally inhumane and illegal, the republican governor, Rick Snyder, shut down the private prisons. This is the same Rick Snyder who poisoned the children of Flint with lead in their drinking water, not a "bleeding-heart liberal."
Since these prisons are paid for with taxpayer dollars, we, the taxpayers, should have a right to some oversight. We also have the responsibility to see that prisoners are treated humanely. This is especially critical in light of the fact that an innocent man was incarcerated for 45 years.
180
But, taxpayers do have oversight. You have oversight when you vote in your national, state, and local elections.
20
Biggest lobbying group in America, and also the reason the politicians they court must demonize and criminalize minorities - you didn't think white folks were going to fill these cells?
40
You see barbarism. Jeff Sessions sees the glory of capitalism and a handy profit.
44
I feel like this is becoming endemic with the American administration and their very short-sighted way of dealing with issues. How can a sophisticated, first-world government act in such a one-dimensional way, attempting to only deal with the face of an issue with out looking at the cause?
Are prisons costing too much? Apparently out-sourcing to the lowest bidder, and then filling up those prisons to make the contracts worth it is the administration’s solution. Why isn’t the solution to look at the country’s incarceration rates, notice that they are among the highest in the world, and
then do a review of the
judicial system for inadequacies and inaccuracies, racial and other bias, and the Inegative impact of things like minimum sentences and three strike laws?
If the prisoners are coming out of the prisons worse than they went in, regardless of the level of crime, how does that benefit America? How does it benefit the people who work at the prison to work in such a toxic environment, as a contractor for the lowest bidder? How does it benefit the public good?
Who wins with this?
Americans deserve an administration that actually deals with the issues, not one that just skims over them and tries to hide them behind a tweet.
26
Jails in Lackawana PA and Catskill NY - run by public sheriffs and government - have come under similar charges and indictment. The 'jail culture' and guard unions are corrupt. Adding in the 'private prison for profit' motive just guarantees that the corruption will (like Trump) be even worse.
18
The Governor needs to take control of the prison and manage the supervision and care of the population. Instruct the state AG to investigate the crimes committed. DO YOUR JOBS, folks.
14
Private prisons are a bribery system to the max, from the judges on up.
They should be condemned and closed down.
30
I am not against prison or punishment, however there is something inherently wrong with an institution that profits from length of incarceration. Reference the "Kids for Cash scandal back in 2008! In PA judges Michael Conahan and Mark Ciavarella were convicted of sending children to prison for cash kickbacks. One young girl was sent away for an article in her school paper critical of her school administration. Another teen convicted for possession of one marijuana joint, committed suicide in the dentation home. Private prison lobbies spent of 45 million dollars past year promoting maximum sentencing. The result was an over 30% increase in sentencing. Is this the new corporate justice system?
124
Its not the new corrupt justice system, its the same old corrupt justice system on steroids.
3
Private prisons are "dead zones" for human beings. Trump and Sessions are pushing for more privatization of all of our prisons, not to save tax dollars, but to reward supporters. As these private prisons move to house ICE referrals, they will become more and more abusive because non citizens enjoy few of the protections that citizen do, even in prison. At a time when our Federal leadership is becoming more and more authoritarian, citizens should be very fearful of an incarceration system that is one step further out of the public eye. Privatization is just such a system in the making.
24
Let Trump and crew privatize the whole system. With any luck they will all wind up inthe system They created. This didn't start with DT and it won't end until we end the policy of pampering the one percent.
Prisons for profit should be abolished. Let's focus on keeping people out of prisons to begin with. Shift the money back into education and training and jobs that stay in our country.
64
Given that the justice system is so deeply corrupt, racist, illegal, unconstitutional and abusive of African Americans, these private prisons are nothing more than the plantations of the modern era. We must, as a country, put a stop to this or the democracy known as the United States of America is doomed.
7
Privatization of what have traditionally -- and rightly -- been government services is a very bad idea right down the line. There are some efficiencies that are not worth having.
35
Typical of the GOP agenda and repeated lie that private companies can do the same thing cheaper. Like security contractors instead of USArmy personnel private contractors lack accountability that citizens deserve. I’d love to see who and how much they contribute to Congress.
18
I have long been concerned about the concept of “private” prisons. Profit should not be the motivating force in keeping people incarcerated. This article proves true my concerns.
16
As I was reading this article, I thought for a moment it was describing the penal system in some third-world country, the barbarism described was so shocking.
Running a government entity as a private enterprise business invites short-cuts that would enhance the bottom line, like under-paying guards or staff, and looking the other way when someone dies.
This is beyond disgraceful, it is a direct contradiction to everything America stands for.
31
It would be interesting to know if Jeff Sessions is a shareholder in the private company that runs this prison. He is an investor is the private prison business.
38
As shocking as this report is, the for-profit prisons that service ICE are nearly as bad. They fly under the radar too.
Vote in November.
22
Accountability and professionalism are low enough in government-run jails and prisons; privatizing them reduces them even further. The state locks people up, so the state is responsible for the inmates' living conditions; neither cruel nor unusual. It should be illegal to privatize prisons.
12
Amazing that we blithely ignore sadistic brutality in our prison system and then wonder why inmates seek to take out their revenge on society once they are released. If someone wasn't a hardened criminal when they arrived to prison, they certainly will be by the time they get out.
There is absolutely no attempt at rehabilitation. As lawyers for the private prison stated, "...prisons are meant to be tough environments." That's the kind of ignorance that reinforces the ruthless punishment quotient and rejects the value of rehabilitation. In other words, let's not be surprised that our prisons are making things far worse for everyone.
But we've known about this problem for decades and no matter how many exposes are published in national newspapers, nothing ever changes. There is no leadership at any level and backward states like Mississippi could care less about upholding the laws of our nation. It's like a Third World nation down there where so-called "Christian values" are hollow and meaningless.
72
Look at Mississippi's Senator Roger Wicker (R) and Reps. Trent Kelly, Steven Palazzo, Greg Harper -- and you'll see who's on the take; likely accepting money from the private prison industry hidden in patriotic sounding PAC donations. Of course the Koch Brothers too are involved.
https://www.opensecrets.org/members-of-congress/pacs?
1
How is the lack of oversight permissable after such reports? To have to go through state courts to gain action...
7
Not only do we lock up more people than just about any other country but we treat them more viciously. Can anyone guess the race of most Mississippi prisoners and the race of those who manage and oversee the prisons? There is no justice in Mississippi and very little in the US. The GOP is leading us into a terrible decline. We are making America a very ugly place. TRump's language about African countries is now applicable to ours.
18
Why are prisons meant to be tough environments. Does treating someone badly make them better. These prisons are meant to warehouse minorities as cheaply as possible. But considering that Mississippi is usually last in anything worthwhile, education, healthcare, worker protection, etc. it is not surprising that they would shoot for the moon in prisoner abuse.
27
On their website MTC describes it's corrections standards as follows:
"MTC believes all correctional institutions must be held accountable for the fair and humane treatment of those in their custody. All prisons must be held to the highest standards in providing clean and well-maintained facilities, quality and timely health care, and programs that are effective in preparing
offenders for reentry."
According to the evidence set forth in the article, Management & Training Corporation is failing miserably, even by their own for-profit standards. The ACLU must be having a field day.
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I'll wager many of our prisons are much worse than anything in the gulags of the Soviet Union or the current prisons in North Korea, China or Cuba. Not only does the "land of the free and home of the brave" imprison more human beings than any other nation, and does so through a criminal justice system that continues to be infected by racism and profound unfairness, but we also treat our prisoners too often with inhumanity, marked by brutality and indifference to their sufferings. No wonder that so many of those who emerge from hellish years behind bars have so little compassion for the problems and sufferings of others
America will never do anything serious to reform our prison system, such as adopting prisons like those in Germany and Sweden, just as we will never do anything serious to end income, housing and education disparities between white and non-whites. Such reforms would require a national acknowledgement that these inequities are fueled by racism and a genuine willingness to end them. But it will be a cold day in Hades before white America will possess enough courage to do that.
"Land of the free and home of the brave" indeed.
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'' ... could not guarantee that the prison was capable of performing its most basic function. '' - That first line says it all, doesn't it ?
If the state ( us ) cannot guarantee such a basic thing, ( along with due process and other human rights ) then it should not be in business at all.
Furthermore, private entities should not be in these businesses at all.
( education, health care, prison systems, etc ... )
Why should we ( the taxpayers ) pay %'s of our tax dollars for profits to entities that are not as efficient, cost more and do not ''guarantee'' human rights ?
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Lawyers for the state and representatives of Management & Training say prisons are meant to be tough environments, and that East Mississippi is no worse than most others............................. “From the warden on down, our staff are trained to treat the men in our care with dignity and respect.................
****************
And the beatings will continue until morale improves.
Quit calling them "private prisons." They are Prisons For PROFIT," and they need to be eliminated.
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Private Prisons = Private Profit and Private Punishment............
Issa Arnita, Management and Training spokesperson, is another incompetent who should be forced to spend some time in one of the company's privately "safe, secure, clean, and well run" Mississippi prisons.
If Mississippi has kept taxes low to attract businesses then it should ask itself if the debacle at the prison, caused by cuts to the funds paid for prisions, isn't part of what is keeping businesses out of Mississippi? Mississippi is annually one of the poorest states in the union, but businesses don't usually want to move to a state which treats human being so terribly. Skilled workers won't want to go to such a place either.
Perhaps Mississippi needs to rethink its "business friendly" policies.
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The constant myth of always lowering taxes unravels all the time, The Oklahoma teacher revolt is just the tip of the iceberg. Sometimes there is no free lunch,
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Sorry. As a former resident of MS., I saw them give huge incentives and tax waivers to businesses to relocate to the state (see Nissan). When looking at relocating families look at education, healthcare, and higher education. Beautiful outdoors and truly nice people can't make up for shortsightedness of the good old boy mentality of the legislature.
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MIssissippi's prisons and its schools are the result of a low-tax, anti-union, anti-worker, "business friendly" state policy, descended from slavery and the white culture that depended on slavery to keep poor whites happy. It's all of a piece.
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Let the "warden" and the guards spend a few weeks as prisoners in these hell holes. I think we would see significant changes. The idea that we lock minor criminals away and we let corporations treat people this way is infuriating. Put the entire upper management of this private for-profit prison corporation in one of their prisons for a month. Or even longer.
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I hope you are right. It could be that they assume the submissive role of prisoners without question and then be the guards they used to be once the experiment ends. If they could learn anything better, they would have already found the situation unbearable.
Smythe But it's partly not their fault (only partly, obviously).
It's the private prisons' extreme cost-cutting -- & the cut-rate deals by local govt.with the corporations that own &/or run them -- that produces these awful conditions.
If the companies were committed to proper staffing, training, supplying, these conditions wouldn't exist.
And the awful pay & conditions for the staff are going to result in attracting only the least competent applicants. Better ones will go after positions in better-run prisons.
But corporate managers have a fiduciary duty to cut costs, which inevitably results in constant reduction of product quality, in order to continually increase profit, growth & thereby stock value for their shareholders.
That the reason that private prisons should simply not exist -- unless subject to exactly the same regulations & oversight that govt. prisons are.
"The genesis of the problems at East Mississippi, according to prisoner advocates, is that the state requires private prisons to operate at 10 percent lower cost than state-run facilities."
So they have to spend less in absolute dollars AND still turn a profit. Not hard to figure out where the cuts will fall.
The private prison industry gets away with this nightmarish stuff because of the guaranteed profits, their ability to keep much of this hidden from public view, and apathy/disinterest/vengefulness on the part of many people towards prisoners.
If we read about prison conditions like this in another country we would condemn them for their uncivilized brutality but this is right here at home. #MAGA
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This is barbaric, inhumane and shameful. I thank the Times for their report; everyone needs to see the video and read the story. This seems like something we might expect to see in a third world county, not something that happens in a state that starts just a few miles from where I live.
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Private for profit prisons have been around for a long time. They had a real resurgence in the 1980’s. These types of stories are all to common that’s why some states banned them. Write to your Representatives and tell them to end this cruelty now.
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Wait a minute, hasn't the US joined the ranks of the third world lately? Also, to be noted, most so-called third-world countries do treat their inmates more humanely.
4
Ah Juliet, if you look at our inequality, poverty, criminal justice system, gun violence, healthcare, education, and infrastructure, we are worse than a third world country. Sorry, the facts hurt.
4
Relentless onslaughts to the budgets of education and prisons and immigration courts and healthcare and most everywhere else have all lead to this similar place: too few people trying to do too much work leading to an 'us versus them' mentality that destroys us all. We keep making the same mistakes in multiple arenas. When we finally try to move away, those like Jeff Sessions are there to drag us back-those who profit so much from the savings in the budget that it doesn't matter it is paid for by the misery and desperation of others. This is so horrifying and so inhumane and so unAmerican on every level. I truly do not understand how study after study showing that this is the TRUE cost of private prisons can be done and the administration just shrugs and tries to open more. I.Don't.Under.Stand.
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This is just the tip of the prison iceberg in Mississippi. The longest running scam/graft/embezzlement from our state government was committed by Mississippi's longest serving commissioner of prisons, one Christopher Epps, who is now serving a 20 year sentence, along with those he bribed and those who bribed him. The whole system is corrupt. Families of prisoners pay bribes to prison guards to protect their incarcerated family members. Contraband smuggling by guards is rampant and common knowledge.
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This is just like a third world country. We are moving very fast to be at the bottom - no longer an example to be emulated but what not to be.
2
If Epps and his partners in crime are incarcerated in private prisons it would be the ultimate in poetic justice.
2
This is Louisiana but same. Reporter Shane Bauer worked as private prison guard
https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2016/06/cca-private-prisons-correct...
3
I don’t know how we’re supposed to guard against brutality in society when the state itself can’t set an example of humane treatment of people under their care. Disgraceful!
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Trump is becoming a despot just like the one in NK.
Impeach Trump.
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