Since 1989 big private corporations such as Corrections Corporation of America and GEO have been funneling money into politics with more than $10 million directly to candidates and roughly $25 million in lobbying. These big companies are not the usual suspects of lobby efforts like their counterparts Big Pharma and Big Oil, these companies are the two biggest contributors to the third, silent influencers of American politics, Private Prisons (Cohen). Private prisons take responsibility for sixteen percent of federal prisoners and six percent of state prisons according to the ACLU. With a prison population of 2,220,300 Americans, private prisons are becoming one of the largest industries in the nation (Bureau of Justice Statistics).
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Lobbying is an essential component to gaining political support for a cause, but when companies are solely seeking monetary benefits whilst swaying politics in the favor of massive, monopolizing corporations, as opposed to the needs of the common man, morality must come into question. Human lives are the pawns in a game of domination and greed, and America allows the private sector to monopolize the correctional facilities of this nation for self gain rather than the benefits of society. A spokesman from the Corrections Corporation of America stated, “The demand for our facilities and services could be adversely affected by...leniency in conviction or parole standards and sentencing practices…”, meaning that corporations running private prisons lobby politics in America for stricter regulations in criminal court for the fiscal benefit of keeping prisoners rather than the societal duty to protect
American citizens from criminals. Politicians have been burdened with the task …show more content…
Prisoners may be stripped from some constitutional rights, but cruel and unusual punishment and the right to voice personal concerns over the health and well-being of the inmates are two basic rights kept by incarcerated individuals. But the private sector is silencing the voices and concerns of the public and of inmates due to the lustful allure to greed and financial growth. By removing the ability to create
Lobbying is an essential component to gaining political support for a cause, but when companies are solely seeking monetary benefits whilst swaying politics in the favor of massive, monopolizing corporations, as opposed to the needs of the common man, morality must come into question. Human lives are the pawns in a game of domination and greed, and America allows the private sector to monopolize the correctional facilities of this nation for self gain rather than the benefits of society. A spokesman from the Corrections Corporation of America stated, “The demand for our facilities and services could be adversely affected by...leniency in conviction or parole standards and sentencing practices…”, meaning that corporations running private prisons lobby politics in America for stricter regulations in criminal court for the fiscal benefit of keeping prisoners rather than the societal duty to protect
American citizens from criminals. Politicians have been burdened with the task …show more content…
Prisoners may be stripped from some constitutional rights, but cruel and unusual punishment and the right to voice personal concerns over the health and well-being of the inmates are two basic rights kept by incarcerated individuals. But the private sector is silencing the voices and concerns of the public and of inmates due to the lustful allure to greed and financial growth. By removing the ability to create