Dave Weisbrich

DSU Dr. George

English 1010
22 November 2015

The United States only makes up 5% of the world population, and yet houses 25% of all the
prisoners on Earth due to the prison system becoming the lucrative business we have seen it
metamorphosize into in recent decades. This paper will describe the reason that the land of the free and
the home of the brave has become enamored with stripping it's own citizens of their freedom for profit,
and the impact this has on economies on both the micro and macro scale.
The mass incarcerations of American citizens decimates the lives and resources of those who
have loved ones in prison. When a citizen is imprisoned, especially a male, the family they are attached to
is left with an economic and emotional void which makes survival much harder opposed to intact
families. Negative impacts are seen in no greater degree than in the African-American community, where
one in three males will spend time within prison walls (Smith and Hattery 392). A large contributor to the
rises in incarceration rates is the Rockefeller Drug Laws which were passed in 1980 (Smith and Hattery
390). These laws were part of the war on drugs that are unjustly designed to imprison a disproportionate
amount of African American men more than any other race (Smith and Hattery 390). Beginning in 1989
and continuing to present times, prisons have seen a shift in racial demographics where African American
men now make up the majority of prison inmates, which has a direct correlation to the Rockefeller Drug
Laws (Smith and Hattery 392). These laws, when closely observed, appear to be overtly racist as they are
devised to levy much harsher penalties for drug use that is mostly seen in African American communities,
while drugs that are mostly used by Caucasians carried significantly lighter penalties. For example,
Hattery and Smith write that possession of merely 5 grams of crack cocaine is a felony whereas an
individual must possess nearly 500 grams of powder cocaine for the same charge and sentence to be
invoked (394). Furthermore, the Department of Justice has shown evidence that 33% of convicted

white defendants received a prison sentence whereas 51% of African American defendants received
sentences (Smith and Hattery 391). When these men are released from prison, they face the challenge of
returning to the same communities where many other ex-cons return to. While in prison, these men do not
receive any type of rehabilitation program, and although having paid their debt to society, have extreme
difficulties finding meaningful employment after their release (Smith and Hattery 388). Although African
American men make up the majority of the prison population, there has been a significant increase in
prison inmates across the board, despite race. The question must be asked, if there has not been an
increase in crime why has there been such a large increase in incarceration rates? This question can be
answered by exploring the economic impact of the prison industrial complex (PIC).
In his farewell address, President Eisenhower warned the American public of the emergence of
the military industrial complex. In this speech, he explained that a large portion of the economy had
become dependent upon the military buildup and that, in order to maintain this level of activity, combat
operations must occur to justify continued levels of activity. Similarly, there exists a prison industrial
complex that also makes large contributions to the American economy. Like the military must wage wars
to stay in business, prisons must fill their cells with inmates to stay in business. Both of these entities
operate in the business of suffering for profit, and yet are viewed by many as a necessary tool for the
continuation of a benevolent society. Selling this facade to the American public is easy considering the
PIC is allowed to exist because it is fueled by the economic interests of private corporations, federal and
state correctional institutions, and politicians (Fulcher 589). Support from these organizations have
cemented prisons into the foundation of America's economy. Indeed prisons have become a big business
since the implementation of the war on drugs which has created an unbelievable 1100% increase from
1980 to 2003 (Fulcher 594). With these increases, prisons have been able to exploit cheap labor from
inmates while simultaneously lowering the unemployment rate in poverty-stricken areas by reducing the
populationa win for everyone involved, save for the inmates and their families. Aside from cheap labor,
the prison industrial complex has generated billions by becoming one of the fastest-growing industries in
the Unites States (Fulcher 593). Such growth has created prison guard unions, multi-billion dollar

contracts for construction firms, and thousands of other related jobs which have fed the American
economy for decades. Proponents of the drug war and of free market enterprise will point to job creation
and economic stimulation as a positive consequence of prisons and harsh legislation. However, these
benefits come at the cost of unjustly and unequally taking freedoms away from citizens who, in the case
of most marijuana users, are not guilty of violent or destructive crimes. The very core of American values
is the freedom to conduct one's life so long as it doesn't infringe on anothers' liberties, and these freedoms
should not be stripped away due to the promise of a slightly better economy. While state and federal
prisons have been a profitable business for America, the public has become despondent of using tax payer
dollars to create more prisons. This has led to a newly formed branch of the justice systemprivatized
prisons.
Private prisons came about as a result of eager capitalists seeing the opportunity for enterprise
when the public grew tired of paying for costly prison facilities. Unjust legislation of tough on crime
policies such as the failed War on Drugs and increases in prisons have not led to a decrease in
incarceration rates, but rather created an even greater hunger for prisoners (Brickner and Diaz). Many of
the corporations who own private prisons, such as Corrections Corporation of America (CCA), are
publicly traded companies which inherently must do their best to maximize profits for their shareholders.
For the prison business, maximizing profits means maximizing prisoners, regardless of whether their
punishment is equal to their crime (Brickner and Diaz). Naturally, this practice is easily exploitable as was
seen in Pennsylvania in 2011 where Juvenile Court Judge Mark Ciavarella was convicted of racketeering
in a cash for kids jail scheme. For years, the judge was paid by private prison officials to sentence kids
to harsher punishments in order to keep the companys private facility filled (Brickner and Diaz).
Companies like CCA, which recorded profits of $1.675 Billion in 2010 alone, use their capital to
influence many politicians, such as Arizonas Jan Brewer and Ohios John Ka-sich, to impose legislation
that will result in higher incarceration rates for citizens who would normally not see extended prison time,
or in some cases no prison time at all (Brickner and Diaz). Again, proponents of privatized prisons will
use the free-market to justify their existence, along with the notion that private prisons are more efficient

than state-run prisons. However, this is not the case as Brickner and Diaz point out that private prisons
must maximize profits, which is often done by scaling back on expenses such as maintenance, training,
security and safety protocols, adequate alarm systems, and reduced wages and little to no benefits for
workers which results in a high turnover rate which is 53 percent, while the public facilities rate was
only 16 percent. Private prisons also report assaults between prisoners and between prisoners and staff
were 50 percent higher than their public counterparts (Brickner and Diaz). Most appalling is the fact
that prisoners are not offered drug counseling, mental health care, and job training while incarcerated
due to their costs reducing profits for shareholders (Brickner and Diaz). Without these programs, inmates
are more likely to return to criminal activity when released due to their lack of rehabilitation and
reintegration training. Eliminating these programs not only serves to decrease expenditures, but also
greatly increases the chances of privatized prisons making money off these individuals again when they
are incarcerated in the future. Although the facts in this paper would appear to be enough for many to
wish for reformation of the criminal justice system and the abolishment of private prisons, there are some
who believe the current state of both serve our society for the better.
Some have offered the idea that prisons are necessary for the detention and punishment of
convicted criminals who would normally be on the street endangering the law-abiding public and their
children. Without prisons to warehouse these malicious individuals, the general public would be at risk of
having great harm fall to them in the form of murder, rape, theft, destruction of property, and of course
drug peddling. There are certainly individuals among society that are capable and willing to commit these
heinous acts, and prison is an appropriate destination for those who are found to be truly guilty of these
crimes. However, a large portion of the prison population are not guilty of crimes such as murder, rape, or
destruction of property, but rather simple drug use and other petty crimes that many have argued carry
unjust punishments, such as the Rockefeller Drug Laws mentioned above. Higher incarceration rates has
not led to decreases in crime or deterring drug use among citizens, but rather has resulted in higher
incidence of individuals who return to criminal activity due to their imprisonment ostracizing them from
society. Information such as this would suggest that prisons, ironically, are doing more to create crime on

American streets than to deter it. Those who agree with the above sentiment that prison reform is long
overdue often allude to prison privatization as an effective cure. Rehabilitation is a cornerstone in the
argument for justifying private prisons, as programs that are meant to reintegrate prisoners into productive
members of society are often underfunded or completely devoid from government-run prisons. Surely
private prisons, being free from a meddling bureaucracy, should be able to modify their prison system to
produce healthier, more stable inmates ready to release. Once again though, the reality is quite the
opposite as rehabilitation is often seen as an expense that can be cut to maximize profits for private
prisons. Rehabilitation is not the only important prison expense being cut in private prisons, but often
resources that are considered essential for human survival such as food, clothing, bedding, and proper
ventilation are given to inmates at substandard levels. More importantly private prisons are notorious for
incidences of assaults and escapes as salaries for security forces are also seen as expenses that should be
reduced to the bare minimum. Overall, private prisons do not offer any advantage in operational
efficiency, prisoner rehabilitation, stimulation of local economies by means of employment, or better
quality of life for inmates when compared to government-run facilities which are already abhorrent.
The main goal of prisons should be to deter crime and rehabilitate criminals, which would
ultimately result in the need for fewer prisons. Unfortunately, America has found a lucrative enterprise in
the incarceration business, and pursuing the goal of fewer prison does not make good business sense. The
United States already houses 25% of the worlds prisoners and with legislation such as the Rockefeller
Drug Laws, and similar legislation sure to be passed in the future, the rate of incarceration will only
increase in the years to come. It is important to note that since the passing of the Rockefeller Drug Laws,
the overall crime rate has not increased in comparison to the increase in the amount of prisons and
prisoners. The PICs hunger for prisoners is the only factor resulting in higher incarceration rates. A
complete overhaul in the criminal justice system must be enacted so the land of the free does not continue
down the path of profiting on selling out its own citizens liberties.

Works Cited
Brickner, Michael, and Shakyra Diaz. "Prisons For Profit Incarceration For Sale." Human Rights 38.3
(2011): 14-17. Academic Search Premier. Web. 23 Nov. 2015.

Fulcher, Patrice A. "Hustle and flow: Prison privatization fueling the prison industrial complex."
Washburn Law Journal 51.3 (2012).

Smith, Earl, and Angela J. Hattery. "African American Men And The Prison Industrial Complex." Western
Journal Of Black Studies 34.4 (2010): 387-398. Academic Search Premier. Web. 23 Nov. 2015.