Why is this on HN?
Housing a prisoner in California costs more than a year at Harvard
101–110 of 427 posts
Re: Housing a prisoner in California costs more than a year at Harvard
#102The USA has ~5% of the world's population but 22% of the world's prisoners. Financial profiting from prisoners: Prison Labor - paid $0.93-0.16/hr California Prisons didn't want to release prisoners because they would loose cheap labor..Courts said they had to: https://thinkprogress.org/california-tells-court-it-cant-rel... 30% of California forest firefighters are prisoners .. The state argued against parole credit f…
"Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, except as a punishment for crime whereof the party shall have been duly convicted, shall exist within the United States, or any place subject to their jurisdiction." Legally speaking seems like in the US that prisoners are slaves. SOURCE: https://www.loc.gov/rr/program/bib/ourdocs/13thamendment.htm...
Yup, it's literally and constitutionally slavery.
Re: Housing a prisoner in California costs more than a year at Harvard
#103Re: Housing a prisoner in California costs more than a year at Harvard
#104Earlier quoted context omitted.
Correction: contractors are fleecing tax payers.
Correction : Union. The California Correctional Peace Officers Association is very powerful in state and local elections and through association with other providers who are also union pretty much have the state on the ropes. Contractors might be part of the problem but they only are as much as CCPOA allows for. As in, you play by their rules or you don't get to play. Same reason we spend so much on education and don…
Prisons are not expensive due to high salaries for prison guards, so I'm not sure why you think it's the union's fault.
Re: Housing a prisoner in California costs more than a year at Harvard
#105Earlier quoted context omitted.
> Even the juror compensation is something ridiculous like $10/day Yes, it seems logical if jurors would be compensated at least as the minimal wage per hour. In small communities it could probably lead to something like 'professional juror' but I think it could be dealt with by monthly/yearly cap for compensation.
You can't choose to sit on a jury in the US. People are randomly selected (I think from voting registrations). Small towns have less crime and less need for jurors. Even so, because the choice is not up to you, the "professional juror" would just be a very unlucky person.
Yes, you're right, small towns have less crime, so it shouldn't be a problem.
Re: Housing a prisoner in California costs more than a year at Harvard
#106I get it - it's tempting to solve the Harvard Business School issue by sending the MBA students to prison before they wreck havoc on the economy. But I'm not sure their dads would pay the exceeding tuition. Also, there is the whole question of whether it would be fair to the other prisoners. Pretty soon the prison economy would be infested with cigarette derivatives and yard swaps.
I'd like to see what would happen in prison if these Harvard types destabilised the market...
That was recently answered... http://www.marketwatch.com/story/new-series-casts-bernie-mad...
> “Bernie really was a successful businessman with quite original insights into the market, and he’s continued applying his business instincts in prison,” Fishman said. “At one point, he cornered the hot chocolate market. He bought up every package of Swiss Miss from the commissary and sold it for a profit in the prison yard. He monopolized hot chocolate! He made it so that, if you wanted any, you had to go through Bernie.”
The search for "madoff swiss chocolate" will find many more articles based on the above quote.
Re: Housing a prisoner in California costs more than a year at Harvard
#107This is a cheap, sensational headline and an article that lacks depth and analysis. At the end of 2006, there were ~160,000 people in prison "institutions" in the state of California[1]. The design capacity of those institutions was ~79,000 people[1], so the occupation was ~204% of the design capacity. At the end of 2016, there were ~114k people in prison institutions[2], which was ~134% of the design capacity. Obvio…
The article does lack any sort of depth. However, it sounds like you're opposed to the headline itself, which seems to be true, and you haven't refuted it, have you? The article does indeed mention the prison population has declined due to a reduction in overcrowding, but that costs are still rising. The high per-prisoner cost remains a fact, regardless of whether it was cheaper in the past or what caused that.
Re: Housing a prisoner in California costs more than a year at Harvard
#108The USA has ~5% of the world's population but 22% of the world's prisoners. Financial profiting from prisoners: Prison Labor - paid $0.93-0.16/hr California Prisons didn't want to release prisoners because they would loose cheap labor..Courts said they had to: https://thinkprogress.org/california-tells-court-it-cant-rel... 30% of California forest firefighters are prisoners .. The state argued against parole credit f…
That really is simply disgusting. Keeping people imprisoned mainly so that they can be used as a source of cheap (borderline free) labour is pure exploitation. It really doesn't seem very many steps above slavery. I know that at least in theory people are in prison because they have done something wrong so that them working to in part pay for the cost of their incarceration seems justified but if they should be relea…
"Keeping people imprisoned mainly so that they can be used as a source of cheap (borderline free) labour is pure exploitation"
California is well-known for this, and Riverside County is one of the primary counties responsible. When you walk into the courtroom, there's a sign that says "Attention CUSTOMERS" instead of "Attention Citizens." Lets you know right off the bat that these people are after nothing but money and should be charged under RICO statutes.
Re: Housing a prisoner in California costs more than a year at Harvard
#109Earlier quoted context omitted.
That really is simply disgusting. Keeping people imprisoned mainly so that they can be used as a source of cheap (borderline free) labour is pure exploitation. It really doesn't seem very many steps above slavery. I know that at least in theory people are in prison because they have done something wrong so that them working to in part pay for the cost of their incarceration seems justified but if they should be relea…
>It really doesn't seem very many steps above slavery Zero. It's literally slavery. The thought of it is barbaric and horrible.
Yes the thought of it is horrible, but isn't it part of the purpose of criminal punishments to scare away people from committing crimes?
Re: Housing a prisoner in California costs more than a year at Harvard
#110Earlier quoted context omitted.
Correction : Union. The California Correctional Peace Officers Association is very powerful in state and local elections and through association with other providers who are also union pretty much have the state on the ropes. Contractors might be part of the problem but they only are as much as CCPOA allows for. As in, you play by their rules or you don't get to play. Same reason we spend so much on education and don…
Prisons are not expensive due to high salaries for prison guards, so I'm not sure why you think it's the union's fault.
Well, that's one part of it.