from Hacker News

California bans private prisons and immigration detention centers (2019)

by cdepman on 6/12/20, 4:03 PM with 122 comments

• by fennecfoxen on 6/12/20, 4:42 PM

  I guess this is nice, but I think the question of "private prisons" can become a bit of a distraction. Maybe they make things worse, but they're not the root of our problems. Consider that California state prisons were trying to save money by illegally sterilizing inmates as recently as 2010.

  Here's a great headline to consider: "California Bans Sterilization of Female Inmates Without Consent". 2013. In the United States. Two thousand and god damn thirteen. https://www.nbcnews.com/health/womens-health/california-bans...

  other links. https://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2013/07/09/200444613... https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2013/nov/08/califo...

• by Shivetya on 6/12/20, 4:52 PM

  This isn't about protecting prisoners or their rights, this is about protecting the jobs that the California Correctional Peace Officers Association controls and insuring no one else performs this task. Private prisons were forced into accepting CCPOA members but he union set forth in campaign after campaign to rid the state of private prisons.

  Back in May Newsom announced he was trying to reduce some of the in excess of thirteen billion dollar prison budget and between allowing more prisoners out, reducing chances more got in, and considering the role of private prisons. However the CCPOA basically went to the legislature which it effectively owns and here is the result. More money instead of less.

  It gets wrapped up and sold under a different banner to hide the real move. California state government is under the boot of the CSSA and both are responsible for that the high incarceration rates. go look at any state approaching those numbers and you will find a similar police related organization behind it all.

  This all synchronizes neatly with the problems all the recent rallies brought forth. The public sector employee unions that run our police, fire, prison, and education, have so much power that any attempt at reform instead usually ends up with more money going to the very organizations causing the problem. Besides the front facing public relations problem the back end that will soak the public is the largess in the pension and health retirement programs, the very same gold plated programs that resulted in the ACA being hampered from day one.

• by dumbfounder on 6/12/20, 4:30 PM

  @dang can you add 2019 to the title so people know this is an old article?

• by bradly on 6/12/20, 4:40 PM

  Would love to see California ban sales of goods made at private prisons as well. Or at least disclose it on the packaging so consumers can make a decision.

• by subsubzero on 6/12/20, 5:19 PM

  Private prisons have an obligation through shareholders and ownership to maximize earnings/profit. They also have inherently less oversight than an institution that is controlled by the state. Given statement #1 they have a perverse incentive to acquire more inmates and keep inmates longer confined due to receiving govt. funding for their operations every day an inmate is housed. This also includes serving the cheapest possible food and providing little to no benefits. That being said state prisons are no shining beacon of enlightenment and prisoner reform.

• by lm28469 on 6/12/20, 5:01 PM

  There seem to be plenty of comments that are OK with private prisons. I highly recommend watching this documentary: https://youtu.be/krfcq5pF8u8

  It will most likely change your mind.

• by specialist on 6/12/20, 6:12 PM

  Actual bill:

  AB-32 Detention facilities: private, for-profit administration services.(2019-2020)

  http://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billTextClient.xhtml...

  Rant: Why are the medias constitutionally incapable of linking to the actual bill? Third millennium. It's all online. Cite and link your sources. Unbelievable.

  Edit: Somehow The Guardian is capable of using links. Maybe it's a British thing. Here's their version of the same story. https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2019/sep/12/california-p...

• by sacks2k on 6/12/20, 4:07 PM

  I can understand private prisons (which make up a small percentage of overall prisons).

  However, what will be the solution for people that come into the US illegally, if not temporary detainment?

• by jungletime on 6/12/20, 5:16 PM

  Seems to me like increasing the use of house arrest is so much preferable to prison, for everyone involved. Just have it monitored properly. Maybe ankle bracelet, an GPS monitoring. With meal delivery, and health checkups, it could be cheaper too than housing someone in a prison. Have them take online classes and possibly let them work online to offset the costs of the monitoring. Or some sort of program to trade time served for working in nursing homes taking care of the elderly.

• by antoineMoPa on 6/12/20, 5:19 PM

  Shouldn't the date be included in the title? [October 11, 2019]

• by ykevinator on 6/12/20, 11:03 PM

  They should just pay the prisoners to not repeat the crime

• by kevin_thibedeau on 6/12/20, 5:39 PM

  Ban JPay next.

• by sneak on 6/12/20, 4:35 PM

  The concentration camps and child prisons the US is operating presently are mostly in Texas and the southwest, so this won't have much meaningful effect on the situation.