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Comment by mrguyorama | Hacker News Reader

The prison system is highly privatized. Prisons with more people in them make more money and have a higher return on investment. Prisons that have repeat visitors can out compete prisons that do not. Therefore, there is a selection towards not keeping an inmate out of prison in the future.

I hate how tinfoil hat-y this sounds, and I'm certainly no expert, so feel free to offer alternatives

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The ACLU, using from the Bureau of Justice Statistics, says that "for-profit companies were responsible for approximately 7 percent of state prisoners and 18 percent of federal prisoners in 2015"

I don't think that count's as "highly" privatized. I personally think the incentives involved in the private prison system present major ethical issues, but I think we need to look at the incentives involved with the our legal system and governmental prisons, also.

They may be referring to a bit more than that. Most inmate supplies, from clothing to blankets to mattresses to hygiene supplies, comes from one company called Bob Barker - no affiliation with the TV personality. There are just a few companies that supply canteen/commissary services. Construction is done by just a few companies.

Things like that may be what they are referring to.

Yeah, fully privatized prisons are just the apotheosis of a broader issue.

While private prisons account for a relatively small percentage of total prisons in America, they're a multi-billion dollar industry, and they lobby for laws that affect all prison populations. So, in that sense, we do have a highly privatized prison system.

And it is highly privatized in the sense that the amount of privatization in that sector should probably be zero. When incarceration is a burden rather than a business, incentives exist to prevent crime and reduce recidivism. Otherwise, there are incentives to invent crimes that did not previously exist and turn ex-convicts into "repeat customers".

And it is highly privatized in the sense that the amount of privatization in that sector should probably be zero.

I could only agree more if you removed probably.

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