Daily Times

“An individual who breaks a law that conscience tells him is unjust, and who willingly accepts the penalty of imprisonment in order to arouse the conscience of the community over its injustice, is in reality expressing the highest respect for the law” — Martin Luther King.

The above quote may seem like an idealised version of the system of incarceration and the philosophies behind it. The reality of the situation is quite far from this idealism, even more so when considering the private prison business sector in the US.

Human rights and social/political organisations are condemning what they rightfully see as the exploitation of an inhumane nature, which has begun in the US. Nearly two million people, primarily African Americans and Hispanics, are incarcerated in the country, where the rate of incarceration is the highest in the world. A great many of those incarcerated in private prisons are working for nearly nothing, a system that works really well for those who have invested in the private prison industry (yes, as strange as that might sound!). These ‘workers’ do not need any type of unemployment insurance, vacation time, health insurance, are not absent from work, do not need family time and are never late for work. They are paid about 25 cents an hour. Refusal to work leads to them being locked up in isolation in their cells. These are all factors that benefit only the private prison industry, with no regard for the prisoner.

According to California Prison Focus, “no other society in human history has imprisoned so many of its own citizens”. Ironically, has that led to a decrease in the rate of criminality? The answer is clearly ‘no’. Statistically, the US has 25 percent of the world’s prison population yet only five percent of the world’s population. The private prison industry has also grown exponentially. Ten years ago, there were only five private prisons in the country, with a population of 2,000 inmates. Today, there are 100 private prisons with a total population of 62,000 inmates. These numbers are expected to grow largely in the coming decade.

Why there are so many more people incarerated nowadays can be understood when the situation is looked at from a business point of view: the more people who are locked up, the greater the workforce. Investors and shareholders of private prisons also encourage and expect longer prison sentences for prisoners as this will prolong the work contracts. “The system feeds itself,” says a study by the Progressive Labour Party, which accuses the prison industry of being “an imitation of Nazi Germany with respect to forced slave labour and concentration camps”. Perhaps a harsh point of view but one that should be examined from a very serious angle.

The private prison industry is one of the fastest growing in the US with its investors sitting on Wall Street. It is a full-blown, extremely profitable industry generating millions of dollars of income for its investors. It even has its own websites, trade shows, catalogues, conventions, etc, which is an exploitation of the concept of incarceration and the incarcerated to its maximum degree. The incarcerated in private prisons are responsible for manufacturing a plethora of items such as military helmets, bulletproof vests, pants, ID tags, tents, bags, office furniture, microphones, headphones, speakers, medical supplies, aeroplane parts, and the list goes on. Human rights organisations are well aware that these are the components that directly lead to the incredibly huge profits that the investors of private prisons enjoy, but what can be done about it?

One way of looking at the situation is to think that prisoners accused of crimes should not deserve much and must contribute to society and the workforce during their time in incarceration rather than to enjoy inactivity paid for by the taxpayers. However, many of those who make up this private prison population are those who have been jailed for non-violent crimes. Many are also imprisoned for the possession of illegal drugs, which carries a penalty of five years imprisonment without parole. At this rate, it is not surprising that the rate of incarceration in the US has grown in such high proportions.

Economically speaking, if such a large number of industries depend on prisoners for manufacturing, how does that affect unemployment rates for the rest of society? Morally speaking, there is no doubt that a system that has pivoted from carrying out acts of justice for crimes committed to an industry, which generates millions and profits from increased incarceration rates possesses many factors that are just inherently wrong. It is one thing to respect the law and a court’s decision to punish the perpetrators of crimes and to allow them to serve their prison sentences respecting the terms that were mandated by the courts. It is entirely a different, immoral issue to turn that situation into a privatised business opportunity for profit.

The writer is an English and French professor and columnist residing in the US and France. She can be followed on Twitter @sabriaballand