The Perpetual Prisoner Machine by Joel Dyer, 2000, Excerpts
The corporations involved in the dispensing of justice operate in the best interest of their shareholders and the prison population grows naturally as a result of this pursuit. The shareholder’s best interest – regardless of a corporation’s function – is to maximize the return on investment. Any business plan designed to maximize shareholder profits must include strategies that will guarantee the company is able to maintain growth over the long haul. Such an emphasis on growth and profit may be acceptable in the computer, furniture, or automobile industries; however, this is a wholly destructive force when applied to the administration of justice.
Wall Street analysts now watch the crime figures reported by the FBI and the Justice Department in the same way the monitor unemployment rate or quarterly earnings reports. These crime-rate figures have become leading indicators for private-prison stocks. Wackenhut and CCA already control over half the entire prison market, which makes the concept of free-market competition as much a myth in the prison business as it is within the military-industrial complex.
It seems the old adage “Crime doesn’t pay” has been rendered obsolete.
Overview of the Prison Industry
US Has the Most Prisoners in the World
Politicizing the Fear of Crime
Prison Rehabilitation – “Prisonization”
