making profit out of prisons, in all shape and forms, is a such unbelievable conflict of interests. It is the ultimate monopoly - monopoly of force and violence - that is being abused by existence of any revenue stream associated with prison system.
Prison Bankers Who Profit from the Inmates
61–70 of 132 posts
Re: Prison Bankers Who Profit from the Inmates
#62Earlier quoted context omitted.
Because of this (quoting from the article): "To impress state corrections officials and gain their business, JPay spends heavily on industry conventions attended by agency heads with contracting authority. During a 2012 convention of the American Correctional Association, the company threw what it called an “END OF THE WORLD PARTY” at a Denver wine bar that bills itself as “about you, and your inalienable right to th…
That actually makes it easier. Build a non-profit competitor, get the press, charities & public behind it and shame the fuckers in to switching. With material like that it would be like shooting fish in a barrel.
The fuckers have no shame to begin with, and as far as much of the public is concerned, if you're in jail your very life is expendable, and most people don't give a flying fuck about inmate's families, either.
Re: Prison Bankers Who Profit from the Inmates
#63Earlier quoted context omitted.
> Do not call the police. What? So if I'm getting mugged, murdered, or robbed I should just accept it? Or maybe I should build a personal arsenal so as to protect myself from all possible threats from criminals? This all sounds ridiculously Hobbesian to me. I'm no fan of the police, but the alternative isn't a state of nature.
What are the police going to do about your being mugged? I find it interesting that out of three examples, you happened to list one where the police can't possibly intercede without already being there, and your calling only serves to start a pretend hunt for lost property (hint: finding your stolen laptop is not their top priority), but will serve as justification if they want to rough up some local tough later. Aga…
If there is a rise in reported crime in a certain area, a good police department will increase patrol around there. Sure, you can say that it won't always happen but it actually does happen.
Call the police to report a crime. Pick another method of protest.
Re: Prison Bankers Who Profit from the Inmates
#64Earlier quoted context omitted.
What are the police going to do about your being mugged? I find it interesting that out of three examples, you happened to list one where the police can't possibly intercede without already being there, and your calling only serves to start a pretend hunt for lost property (hint: finding your stolen laptop is not their top priority), but will serve as justification if they want to rough up some local tough later. Aga…
If there is a rise in reported crime in a certain area, a good police department will increase patrol around there. Sure, you can say that it won't always happen but it actually does happen. Call the police to report a crime. Pick another method of protest.
So the only proposed benefit of calling the police when you're mugged is that they have another source of information about where muggings are happening, to compliment others and help inform their police distribution?
That seems a) unnecessary because they have other channels for the same information, and b) easily replaceable by a one-way interaction, eg, throwing the fact at them without providing an official statement.
Mugging statements are used to create suspect profiles that often target people of the same race who only happen to have a passing resemblance (eg, being black with the same color shirt), and can lead to violence or death when the police chase the wrong person.
That you want the police to distribute themselves different is a pretty weak excuse to send them chasing off after potentially innocent people.
Your comment might me more meaningful if police didn't routinely chase, injure, and kill the wrong person because they got confused about a description.
Re: Prison Bankers Who Profit from the Inmates
#65Earlier quoted context omitted.
Is your assertion that there is no free market just because any given prison only contracts with one payment service? Is there no free market in cleaning services because my building only contracts with one provider? Is it only a free market if every individual transaction is put up for bidding?
how about answer his question? Who is currently JPay's competitor? You can't answer the question for a reason bub.
After 20 seconds on Google: Keefe
There are a lot of prisons out there, state, local, federal, private and public and they use a wide range of companies. However, they have little incentive to allow multiple venders at the same time so there is little real completion after the fact.
Re: Prison Bankers Who Profit from the Inmates
#66The solution isn't making a more efficient competitor to Jpay. The solution is abolishing prisons. Angela Davis has written a good short book on this subject called "Are Prisons Obsolete?".
Re: Prison Bankers Who Profit from the Inmates
#67The only question that rings to me anymore about these stories: What can I do? What code can I write? What broker can I call? What form can I sign? How can I register my civic will so as to undo this blight? For me, this is the most embarrassing thing about being a United States citizen.
Lobby the correctional facility to use Dwolla.
Re: Prison Bankers Who Profit from the Inmates
#68The only question that rings to me anymore about these stories: What can I do? What code can I write? What broker can I call? What form can I sign? How can I register my civic will so as to undo this blight? For me, this is the most embarrassing thing about being a United States citizen.
Start a kickstarter campaign to create a not for profit, ethical competitor to JPay? Providing the prisons still get a similar commission (which according to the article isn't where the lion's share of the fees comes from), why wouldn't they opt to go with a payments firm that gives them good PR? Edit: alternatively, maybe the stripe guys could fund/seed a philanthropic off-shoot to tackle this?
[deleted]
Re: Prison Bankers Who Profit from the Inmates
#69Earlier quoted context omitted.
Because of this (quoting from the article): "To impress state corrections officials and gain their business, JPay spends heavily on industry conventions attended by agency heads with contracting authority. During a 2012 convention of the American Correctional Association, the company threw what it called an “END OF THE WORLD PARTY” at a Denver wine bar that bills itself as “about you, and your inalienable right to th…
That actually makes it easier. Build a non-profit competitor, get the press, charities & public behind it and shame the fuckers in to switching. With material like that it would be like shooting fish in a barrel.
The decision makers are civil service types who are basically accountable to nobody. The Deputy Superintendent of Corrections Administration doesn't give a hoot.
Corrections officers have strong unions with ironwood support from their legislators, so it is very difficult to get the executive branch in most states to care about anyth that pisses the unions off.
Re: Prison Bankers Who Profit from the Inmates
#70CCA (Community Corrections of America) is owned by a group of judges, I believe. They run for-profit inmate holding centers across the US.
> CCA (Community Corrections of America) is owned by a group of judges, I believe.
CCA, Corrections Corporation of America, is publicly-traded REIT, as is GEO Group. Anybody here with access to the American public equities markets can purchase shares of stock in CXW or GEO.