…Crime Actually Does Pay
1. While a number of industries across America face the grim prospects of a recession, private prison management is booming. The Corrections Corporation of America (CCA) and The GEO Group, two of the largest firms, are racing around the country in a rush to build new jails and expand existing facilities in order to accommodate swelling prison populations. CCA’s profits climbed almost 10% to $35 million in the fourth quarter of 2007, as revenues jumped to $382 million. GEO’s profits rose 10% to $11.5 million over the same period. 2008 is forecast to be even better.
2. Prisons, whether private or public, are profiting off of providing dirt-cheap labour right in the U.S.’s backyard. Ignoring the hypocrisy of complaining about Chinese labour practices, inmates are being employed across a broad range of industries for well less than minimum wage. Arguably, there are a lot of benefits, including teaching new skills, rehabilitation and reduced recidivism. But a labour force that makes well below minimum wage and poses no risk of strike action may deserve a little more.
3. The list of companies who have benefited (directly or indirectly) in the past from prison labour makes for an interesting read. It includes IBM, Boeing, Motorola, Microsoft, AT&T, Wireless, Texas Instrument, Dell, Compaq, Honeywell, Hewlett-Packard, Nortel, Lucent, 3Com, Intel, Northern Telecom, Nordstrom’s, Revlon, Macy’s, Pierre Cardin, and Target.
4. Facing overcrowding in Texas, private prison management companies were pitching local Sheriffs and municipal governments for the construction of new jails in their areas with the promise of a revenue sharing agreement. This worked fine until there was a glut of capacity, at which point CCA contacted other overcrowded, out-of-state prisons with an offer to “rent” them cells.
5. 2007 saw, for the first time, a county actually charge prisoners for the time spent in cells. Marion Country, in a creative take on rehabilitation, started charging inmates $9.50 per day for their cell and $2.00 for linens. Prisoners also get billed the full cost of medication and health care, as well as $25 to $40 an hour for transportation services to and from the facility. That’s one way to keep people out of jail!
