Texas’s’ Prison Industrial Complex
• Introduction
The prison industrial complex can be defined as the rapid expansion of the inmate population to the political influence of private prison companies and businesses that supply goods and services to government prison agencies. This is not a new phenomenon in our countries history, however, in recent decades the exponential growth of the inmate population in Texas and at a national scale signifies a disturbing trend. As prisons proliferate in U.S. society, private capital has become enmeshed in the prison industry. This is precisely because of the profit potential, prisons are becoming increasingly important to the U.S. economy. If the notion of punishment as a source of potential profits isn’t …show more content…
Provided this information Texans must ask themselves when a publicly-traded company, accountable to its stockholders and driven by profits, earns profits through the housing of prisoners, what motivation exists for rehabilitation and the possibility of early release as a reward for good behavior? The prison-industrial complex is not only a set of interest groups and institutions. It is also a state of mind. The lure of big money is corrupting the nation's criminal-justice system, replacing notions of public service with a drive for higher profits. The eagerness of elected officials to pass "tough-on-crime" legislation—combined with their unwillingness to disclose the true costs of these laws—has encouraged all sorts of financial improprieties. President Dwight D. Eisenhower warned the country of the, “influence sought or unsought by the military industrial complex” and how it had the, “potential for a disastrous rise of misplaced power” and that we must never let this entity, “endanger our liberties or democratic process”. President Eisenhower was correct that an outside governmental entity would try to hinder our democracy for its own benefit. However, he was wrong about which entity would accomplish this goal first. The prison industrial complex has grown into a leviathan that threatens much more than our …show more content…
Each year the CCA, MTC and the Geo Group spend thousands of dollars in lobbying the state legislature in Austin for everything from stricter minimum sentencing laws to new contracts to build more facilities. Henceforth Texas has the largest prison population in the country coupled with some of the highest recidivism rates in the country, especially amongst minorities. Additionally these corporations along with other lobbying groups are known for drafting legislation for the lawmakers to simply vote on. Resulting in these private prisons not only receiving more contracts to build more prisons but often time these million dollar corporations receive tax payer subsidies to build these facilities. Texans are now faced with a daunting challenge of reforming a still broken prison system that’s spearheaded by a quasi-governmental entity that they subsidize. Not to mention that any attempt by law makers to diminish the influence of these corporations is met with immense push back. Often times congressmen/women who speak out against this issue are labeled “soft on crime” or are proponent of big government because they would rather see an expansion of the state prison system which is regulated and controlled by the state congress and not a corporation who has zero obligation to abide by any rules and
• Introduction
The prison industrial complex can be defined as the rapid expansion of the inmate population to the political influence of private prison companies and businesses that supply goods and services to government prison agencies. This is not a new phenomenon in our countries history, however, in recent decades the exponential growth of the inmate population in Texas and at a national scale signifies a disturbing trend. As prisons proliferate in U.S. society, private capital has become enmeshed in the prison industry. This is precisely because of the profit potential, prisons are becoming increasingly important to the U.S. economy. If the notion of punishment as a source of potential profits isn’t …show more content…
Provided this information Texans must ask themselves when a publicly-traded company, accountable to its stockholders and driven by profits, earns profits through the housing of prisoners, what motivation exists for rehabilitation and the possibility of early release as a reward for good behavior? The prison-industrial complex is not only a set of interest groups and institutions. It is also a state of mind. The lure of big money is corrupting the nation's criminal-justice system, replacing notions of public service with a drive for higher profits. The eagerness of elected officials to pass "tough-on-crime" legislation—combined with their unwillingness to disclose the true costs of these laws—has encouraged all sorts of financial improprieties. President Dwight D. Eisenhower warned the country of the, “influence sought or unsought by the military industrial complex” and how it had the, “potential for a disastrous rise of misplaced power” and that we must never let this entity, “endanger our liberties or democratic process”. President Eisenhower was correct that an outside governmental entity would try to hinder our democracy for its own benefit. However, he was wrong about which entity would accomplish this goal first. The prison industrial complex has grown into a leviathan that threatens much more than our …show more content…
Each year the CCA, MTC and the Geo Group spend thousands of dollars in lobbying the state legislature in Austin for everything from stricter minimum sentencing laws to new contracts to build more facilities. Henceforth Texas has the largest prison population in the country coupled with some of the highest recidivism rates in the country, especially amongst minorities. Additionally these corporations along with other lobbying groups are known for drafting legislation for the lawmakers to simply vote on. Resulting in these private prisons not only receiving more contracts to build more prisons but often time these million dollar corporations receive tax payer subsidies to build these facilities. Texans are now faced with a daunting challenge of reforming a still broken prison system that’s spearheaded by a quasi-governmental entity that they subsidize. Not to mention that any attempt by law makers to diminish the influence of these corporations is met with immense push back. Often times congressmen/women who speak out against this issue are labeled “soft on crime” or are proponent of big government because they would rather see an expansion of the state prison system which is regulated and controlled by the state congress and not a corporation who has zero obligation to abide by any rules and