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This document discusses the history and issues with the US prison system and private prisons. It outlines how convict leasing after the Civil War profited off of abusive prison labor. The "War on Crime" and "War on Drugs" policies in the 1960s-70s led to mass incarceration targeting urban communities of color. To house the increasing prisoner population, private prisons emerged seeking to maximize profits, but they have shown to be more violent and no more cost effective than public prisons. While abolishing private prisons is a first step, the overall system remains broken and alternatives focusing on rehabilitation and community reincorporation need to be explored.

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75 views

Rough Script

This document discusses the history and issues with the US prison system and private prisons. It outlines how convict leasing after the Civil War profited off of abusive prison labor. The "War on Crime" and "War on Drugs" policies in the 1960s-70s led to mass incarceration targeting urban communities of color. To house the increasing prisoner population, private prisons emerged seeking to maximize profits, but they have shown to be more violent and no more cost effective than public prisons. While abolishing private prisons is a first step, the overall system remains broken and alternatives focusing on rehabilitation and community reincorporation need to be explored.

Uploaded by

api-411463895
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
Available Formats
Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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I hope this video educates you about a topic that isn’t really discussed and might have some

negative connotations and tension around. Prison abolition.

I rounded up some of my friends and asked their opinion on prison abolition.

While many had different views with different reasonings rehabilitation was a key part of many
of the responses I received. So why isn't the U.S. prison system doing its job which isn't only to
imprison but to make sure prisoners don't come back?

Well, it's more complicated than people not doing their jobs. Just like the United States, the
United States prison system has a long dark history dating back to when slaves were released.

This is when we first saw convict leasing a system in which Southern states leased prisoners to
private railways, mines, and large plantations. While states profited, prisoners earned no pay and
faced inhumane, dangerous, and often deadly work conditions.

Convict leasing played to the public fear about crime stemming from newly freed black
Americans and the economic depression from both the civil war and loss of free labor.

Time and again, the courts approved of this abusive use of convict labor, confirmed by the
Virginia Supreme Court’s declaration in 1871 that an incarcerated person was, in effect, a “slave
of the state.”

While debtor’s prison was a thing of the past, convict leasing put money as the central aspect of
the prison system.
States had nothing to lose not only because they were playing to the public fear and prejudice
against black Americans but also because they were making a profit.

Fortunately, convict leasing was banned in 1908 but after the Great Migration of Black
Americans to the North, the fear of black criminality ensued. This meant that even when prison
reform started emerging in the 1940's it was only for redeemable people in other words white
people.

1960's mark the civil rights movement, the Vietnam War, antiwar protests, and political
assassinations but they also mark the United States start of mass incarceration

While the Civil Rights movement was just starting to make progress in gaining equality for
everyone in America there were still violent protests in communities of color. This led to
politicians linking race with a crime. This started with President Johnson’s "War on Crime" in
1965 and followed by its better-known counterpart President Nixon’s "War on Drugs" in 1970
These policies targeted urban communities that were seen as threats. These urban communities
were and still are not so shockingly populated by black Americans especially after their white
counterparts started moving into suburbs.

After these policies were put in place the prison population started to massively grow in size.
Now where to put these new prisoners was the question.

This demand was met by private prisons and private prison companies. So what are private
prisons?

A private prison is run by a corporation. That corporation's end goal is to profit from anything
they deal in. In order to make money as a private prison, they receive a stipend from the
government. A private prison can offer their services to the government and charge $150 per day
per prisoner.

Now this is where the ethical dilemma comes in

Should prisons. A place were we send those that have committed mistakes not just as a
punishment but for rehabilitation get paid by the number of prisoners they keep.

In simple terms For hotels to be successful, they need as many guests as possible to stay for as
long as possible. Hotels advertise and make deals with other companies to lower room prices if
the company can guarantee more bookings. While this is a great business strategy to run a hotel,
the United States prison system shouldn’t have the same corporate strategy as the Hilton.

Now private prisons make up about 10% of all prisons in the United States. However, with their
goal being to make profits there's evidence that they are less beneficial than good.

For example, prisoners who are being held in private prisons may serve sentences that are up to
7% longer than prisoners who are in public prisons serving a similar sentence.

Private prisons see up to 50% more violence when compared to public prisons with regards to
inmate-on-officer assaults. For-profit facilities also see over 60% more inmate-on-inmate
assaults.

And some might say worse of all, they are no more cost efficient than a public facility.

These statistics show that a for profit prison stays true to its name and only focuses on profits for
themselves.
So with all that being said should we abolish private prisons?

I'm a person that loves to save money as much as the next one but there's always a time and a
place especially if the ethics of running a prison which are already questionable are further
twisted with making a profit.

However, companies are not to blame. Private Prison Companies could only take advantage of a
system that was already broken. So what should we do?

With a prison population that never seems to go down and a crime rate that keeps going up I
think we can all agree that theres something lacking. While theres many possible solutions or
options to fix this problem.
Well I agree with what my peers have said, and I would like to think that those watching this
video also have a similar mindset when it comes to restoring our communities.

We have to become invested in getting inmates reincorporated as a positive aspect of our


communities instead of treating them as outcasts. I hope that this documentary allows you to
create meaningful discussion when talking about how people are treated in our justice system but
also how we treat people in everyday life.

Abolishing private prisons that were built on prejudice against many communities is a first step
to achieve a more efficient, healthier, and stronger society.

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