Pfc. Sandoval, CC Liu (eds.), Wisdom Quarterly; Why for-profit prisons house more inmates of color; Robert May (facebook.com)
"Kids for Cash" is a shocking and riveting real-life documentary thriller that rivals fiction.
"Kids for Cash" examines the notorious true story of judicial scandal that has recently rocked the nation. Beyond the millions of dollars paid to corrupt judges to jail kids by private for-profit prisons, it exposes a shocking American secret. In the wake of the shootings at Columbine, a small town celebrates a law-and-order judge who is hell-bent on keeping kids "in line." Then one parent dares to question the real motives behind his brand of "justice." This real-life story reveals the untold stories of the masterminds at the center of the scandal to fill up for-profit prisons with any children available, guilty or not, and the chilling aftermath of lives destroyed in the process. It is a stunning emotional roller coaster.
A new study
by a UC Berkeley graduate student has surprised a number of experts in
the criminology field. Its main finding is that private prisons are packed
with young people of color.
The concept of racial disparities behind bars is not new. Study after study, report after report, working group after working group has found a version of the
same conclusion [ -- the country and courts are affected by ethnic prejudice, economic biases, and subtle racism that people find too uncomfortable to discuss or recognize].
Prisons for Profit (WQ) |
The Sentencing Project estimates that one in three black men will spend time behind bars during their lifetime, compared to one in six Latino men, and one in seventeen white men. Arrest rates for marijuana possession are four times higher for black Americans than white Americans.
Black men spend an average of 20 percent longer behind bars [when everything else is controlled for] in federal prisons than their white peers do for the same crimes.
These reports and thousands of others have the cumulative effect of
portraying a criminal [in]justice system that disproportionately
incarcerates black Americans and people of color in general.
Ruining lives the racist way: a young inmate of color walks through yard at the North Central Correctional Institution in Marion, Ohio, which recently switched to private for-pro management (Ty Wright/Bloomberg via Getty Images). |
Int'l Women's Day, L.A. (WQ) |
Berkeley sociology Ph.D. student Christopher Petrella's finding in "The Color
of Corporate Corrections," however, tackles a different beast.
Beyond the historical over-representation of people of color in
county jails and federal and state prisons, Petrella found that people of
color "are further overrepresented in private prisons contracted by
departments of correction in Arizona, California, and Texas."
This would mean that the racial disparities in private prisons
housing state inmates are even greater than in publicly-run prisons. His
paper sets out to explain why -- a question that starts with race, but
takes him down a surprising path.
Age, race, and money
Prisoner (themonastery.org) |
First, let's look at a bit of background. Private prisons house 128,195 inmates on
behalf of the federal government and state governments (in 2010 numbers, which have increased by 2014). There is a continual debate among legislators and
administrators as to which is more cost effective -- running a
government-operated prison, with its government workers (and unions), or
hiring a private for-profit company (like GEO or Corrections Corporation of
America) to house prisoners. States like California,
Arizona, and Texas use a combination... More
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