Fighting the PIC by Taking on Private Prison Corporations
Judy Greene, Justice Strategies; Nicole Porter, criminal justice researcher; Alex Friedmann, Prison Legal News/Private Corrections Institute; Luissana Santibanez, Grassroots Leadership/Familias Unidas por la Esperanza; Bob Libal, Grassroots Leadership Panel
…explore the important role that private prison corporations are playing in the expansion of the PIC and discuss strategies for fighting the PIC by working to abolish the private prison industry as part of the larger abolition struggle…address the case study of Texas, home to both the largest incarcerated population in the United States and by far the nation’s most private prisons, jails and detention centers. In Texas alone, there are over 14,000 recently constructed or proposed private detention beds.
Notes:
Private prison industry is not accountable to anyone. You can’t get statistics/basic data on them. They are funded indirectly by tax dollars.
Freedom of Information Act does not apply to the private system.
ICE detentions make approximately $95 per day per prisoner. Private prison companies can make up to $225 a day. They are making a profit by locking people up.
Ways to hold private companies accountable:
Do not underestimate the power of media/press. Continuously and regularly generate negative publicity and bad press against companies.
Through litigation and legislation
Target publicly operated systems that are working with the private companies.
Links/Resources:
Families United for Hope (Texas)
T Don Hutto: America’s Family Prison
Book: Prison Profiteers
MORE TO COME!
September 29, 2008 at 5:52 pm
Prisoners are always left out. We seem to often forget about them. There are so many politics surrounding prison. Another good book to read is “Are Prisons Obsolete” by Angela Davis.
October 7, 2008 at 1:00 am
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October 9, 2008 at 9:52 pm
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