Quote: "The second piece by Rachel Barkow, looks at the eight amendment of the Constitution and how it might relate to the current problem of imprisonment in the U.S. Despite the repeated claims to being the "land of the free," the U.S. leads the rest of the developed world in the number of people in prison, which as she points out is made up of significantly larger portions of minority groups in the country. Certainly, running prisons has become a profitable industry as of late, led by corporations like the Corrections Corporation of America (CCA) which also lobbies the government for longer prison terms and less leniency, not because it feels threatened by criminals, but because shorter prison terms would mean less business. Interest groups like this also contribute significantly to lobbying to preserve and intensify the war on drugs, since 50% of prisoners are in there for drug-related crimes."
My Interpretation:
Just reading this made me cringe because let's take little pieces from this quote that stood out to me. First off there is the fact that prisons are made up of larger portions of minority groups in the country. Why is that? If the minority is the minority how can the minority only be the majority in prison? So I keep dissecting this quote and stumble upon the fact that "running prisons has become a profitable industry". Well, that explains that. You put two and two together, the higher ups are having a good time making money off imprisoning minority groups. If prisons are supposed to exist in order to give justice to those that have committed a crime, then why are there people making a profit out of it? Is imprisoning people really something you want to have as a business? Because business is supply and demand, and eventually demands get high, and so somehow the supply will have to catch up, so what do you do when you're desperate for some prisoners in your jails? You will go for the minority groups that don't have the money to fight back maybe? I don't appreciate the fact that prison is a business period. That means that for every poor soul locked behind bars whether they deserve it or not, there is a rich guy in the background just making money off it. So that's my opinion on that. And then, to think that for the sake of profit, the thought of extending prison sentences is a thing, just for the simple fact that the longer someone stays in jail the more money that other someone will make. That is simply ridiculous. That is pure corruption. That is what is wrong. Half of the prisoners that are in jail are arrested for drug-related crimes, and then the majority of them are minority groups as if majority groups don't do drugs themselves. Just thinking about that simple concept should raise a red flag. This country is purely corrupted. Making a business out of locking people up. That is ironically criminal.
