Private Prisons and Mass Incarceration
Private prisons have gained popularity as they have been coined as ways to save the government money. However, numerous studies have found that private prisons are prone to corruption to make a profit. As a result, prisoners are exposed to horrid conditions as well as subjected to longer sentences.
NGOs working on the issue
- American Civil Liberties Union
Links to additional relevant NGOs
Sources to Consult
- http://www.npr.org/2016/08/25/491340335/investigation-into-private-prisons-reveals-crowding-under-staffing-and-inmate-de
- http://kjzz.org/content/453243/2-years-later-arizona-doc-still-not-compliance-healthcare-performance-measures
- http://www.jstor.org/stable/23375625
Ideas for helping out with the issue
- 1. Speak to politicians and legislators
- 2. Vote on legislation
Testimonials
“You’re made to feel less than human and you’re being neglected and you’re being mentally abused.It feels like you’re being tortured.” – Jonathon Trethewey (former Arizona inmate who suffered from colon cancer while in prison) “The picture that is emerging is of a haphazard, make it up as you go along system that has very little training and oversight and very little consistency in how the monitoring is done.” – David Fathi (member of ACLU in a statement on the private medical provided to inmates) “He was sent back to his cell only with Ibuprofen or Tylenol until finally, after two years of being held in this facility, he collapsed outright in the facility and was sent to a local hospital, where he immediately tested positive for AIDS and died days later of AIDS-related illnesses.” (about a prisoner named Claudio Fajarado Saucedo who did not receive proper medical care) “There’s no real order to how these places are built. The private companies find spaces and then rent these spaces out to the federal government.” – Seth Wessler (regarding the living conditions in several private prisons)
