Prison for profit has a history

The US is number one in prisons.  1% of our people are locked up.  Burma, Libya, Iran, Syria, even North Korea cannot compete with this number.  How is it we are the greatest nation in the world and we have over 3 million in prison?  In the last 20 years, the state of California has built one new university, they built over 20 new prisons.  Other states fell short of California's numbers, most did not build new colleges.  Disparity in wealth distribution is the primary accelerant of crime, as the spread increases people steal, the ghetto's of Hitlers Poland offers a view of what people will do to feed themselves and children when they cannot find work and are restricted to live in poverty ridden enclaves.  At what point is it moral to feed a child by crime?  As a last resort, I think it occurs at a low threshold.  If my family was starving with no hope, I would break into your house today, sure thing, I'd do it for my kid, and so would you if you have a soul.

Prisons for profit last year made huge profits.  They also lobbied for tougher longer jail time.  Following the  civil war southern companies turned to the courts for workers.  Timber companies, paving, turpintine mills all went to local sheriffs and judges for help.  Loitering and petty crime suddenly increased in some cities as black men were shipped to the woods.  The public approved with gusto, they suspected the blacks were up to no good and eager police forces played to the idea with generous kick backs from business.  It was slavery.  The WallStreet Journal writers put together a book on this recently, "Slavery by another name", a depressing read of how we continued the destruction of Black families after slavery.

The current and our last two Presidents are known to "experimented" with drugs.  None were ever caught.  If they had been, almost certainly the black one would have seen jail time, the two pink ones very unlikely.  Study after study shows this to be true, and add onto it, crimes blacks do more often, such as crack carry a higher jail time than cocaine, LSD, and so on, even the penalty was set racially.

For profit jails, by the nature of the beast, an enterprise, it looks for customers, it adds to our jail problems by begging longer time, more bodies, I say it's immoral.  Add to that, where is the best colleges?  The best colleges are where the best professors are with the most resources.  Where would you expect criminals to learn a new scam, a new set of professors with resources for jobs when you get out?  The more we crowd bodies into our prisons, the more the drug gangs network expand, car thieves learn where to deliver, class is in session.  Unfortunately anyone looking to lower time for any crime you can name is labeled, the Willie Horton will emerge somewhere within the group to destroy him.  But it has to be done, we have to slow the inflow and cull the prisons down to a realistic number.  Northern Europe has very light penalties for almost all crimes, many can get out to go to funerals or for part time work.  The repeat offenders is low, the cost is low, in prison violence is almost non existant.  Were not doing this right, and corporate America getting more involved is adding to the problem.