Prison as a profit enterprise

• In Event: Roundtable: Prison Industry

Abstract

The prison in contemporary society is an industry which has embarked on the pursuit of human beings as commodities and for the purpose of enhancing and sustaining their own financial viability. The prison industry has very powerful lobbyists and these lobbyists are pipping the congress of the United States to the extent that any policy they develop gets implemented. Three strikes and you are out, life without parole, zero-drug tolerance, mandatory minimum, etc. Their insanity has reached beyond adult criminal justice system. The United States public schools now enforce zero tolerance policy which has created a pipeline from school to prisons. It is now clear that the prison industry is indoctrinating our youths in preparation for adult prisons. Automatic transfers and life without parole policies are still being debated to determine their usefulness as juvenile punishment. This paper presents a radical perspective to illuminate the barbaric policies of the 21stcentury that has weakened the American family structures.

Author

• Patrick O. Ibe, Albany State University, Albany, Georgia