New York: Since 1980, former President Bill Clinton approved the privatization of prisons in the US. Corporations sought to introduce changes in the laws that regulate parole, which require citizens who are released under sentence served or supervised release, which in many cases ranges from 5 to 30 years, during which, if the person commits any crime, even if it is not violent, their freedom is suppressed. They are returned to prison to serve their sentence, often for life.
Official statistics indicate that almost all convicts who leave the system return to prison, and this is attributed to the voracity of the private prison system. In 2020, the two giants of private prisons in the US, CoreCivic and GEO Group, achieved operating revenues of $1.9 billion and $2.3 billion, respectively. They are among the best-performing companies in the industry.
Corporations make attractive offers to states to receive inmates from state prisons. The offers seemed very good because instead of having expenses for each prisoner, they pay much less to these companies, which also take care of building modern prisons and paying for security and all correctional staff.
In practice, it has been the opposite. When the state negotiates a new concession, it commits to filling these private facilities. An empty jail is an economic calamity, so if that is the case, the state must pay compensation for poorly monitored facilities, communal galleries, and practically no opportunities for reintegration.
When corporations buy prisoners, they also acquire their rights, which is why they have built hunger workshops inside private prisons, turning prisoners into workers without benefits or protection.”
