How Dairy Milked by Prisoners Ends Up on Whole Foods Shelves

[coloradoatheist]

They are a corporation that sends convicts to work to try and reduce recidivism rates.

I don't know about this particular corp but there are cases of others lobbying to increase incarceration quotas to profit their business model. Not to mention the scandals when they bribe judges to incarcerate more harshly.

Sometimes you find that the judge sits on the board of the very corporation that runs the prison. No conflict of interest there...

And a judge is supposed to have no conflicts of interest on anything, what are the rules when a judge has a conflict of interest now?

 

[Jimmy Higgins]

They are a corporation that sends convicts to work to try and reduce recidivism rates.

I don't know about this particular corp but there are cases of others lobbying to increase incarceration quotas to profit their business model. Not to mention the scandals when they bribe judges to incarcerate more harshly.

Sometimes you find that the judge sits on the board of the very corporation that runs the prison. No conflict of interest there...

And a judge is supposed to have no conflicts of interest on anything, what are the rules when a judge has a conflict of interest now?

They are supposed to pass and not take up the case.

 

[coloradoatheist]

They are a corporation that sends convicts to work to try and reduce recidivism rates.

I don't know about this particular corp but there are cases of others lobbying to increase incarceration quotas to profit their business model. Not to mention the scandals when they bribe judges to incarcerate more harshly.

Sometimes you find that the judge sits on the board of the very corporation that runs the prison. No conflict of interest there...

And a judge is supposed to have no conflicts of interest on anything, what are the rules when a judge has a conflict of interest now?

They are supposed to pass and not take up the case.

So it should be hard to try any case where the person could end up in the prison that they are a part of.

 

[dismal]

How on earth did government decide private for profit prisons were a good idea? And how on earth does the public tolerate that?

That is even nuttier than your private for profit health insurance system. Some essential functions of society need to be government run.

Why does a prison need to be government run?

Because it is 100% a government function. I don't believe in the government contracting out for the services it is supposed to provide. I also don't believe in the government providing any services, but if the government does provide them then the government should be the one that provides them.

That's a naked assertion.

Where is the evidence that the government can necessarily provide any service better?

 

[laughing dog]

Methinks prisoners may cost a bit more to house than the massive profits their labor generates for the state.

Unless I am mistaken, this isn't a state, this is a corporation. They are getting paid by the State (and Feds?) to house the prisoners already. So while this may not be at the level of chain gangs, there could be very serious issues involved here.

So, the point is still the same. They are costing the taxpayers a lot of money. If the state is reasonably competent (yes, I know, that's a big "if") any profits from the labor should offset the rate the state is charged.

Your argument would be more convincing if the prisoners choose to be incarcerated. The reality is the state is the one who wants them imprisoned.

In addition, it would be nice to see conservatives and libertartians and others apply the same reasoning to roads, fire protection, etc.... and taxes, instead of whining about taxation.

 

[Jimmy Higgins]

They are a corporation that sends convicts to work to try and reduce recidivism rates.

I don't know about this particular corp but there are cases of others lobbying to increase incarceration quotas to profit their business model. Not to mention the scandals when they bribe judges to incarcerate more harshly.

Sometimes you find that the judge sits on the board of the very corporation that runs the prison. No conflict of interest there...

And a judge is supposed to have no conflicts of interest on anything, what are the rules when a judge has a conflict of interest now?

They are supposed to pass and not take up the case.

So it should be hard to try any case where the person could end up in the prison that they are a part of.

Well yes. That was the posters point, the absurd conflict of interest.

 

[Jolly_Penguin]

Some functions of society need proper government oversight and accountability. Some functions of society should not be for profit, and should not hold profit and cost as their primary concern at the expense of all else (real or perceived).

 

[Jason Harvestdancer]

How on earth did government decide private for profit prisons were a good idea? And how on earth does the public tolerate that?

That is even nuttier than your private for profit health insurance system. Some essential functions of society need to be government run.

Why does a prison need to be government run?

Because it is 100% a government function. I don't believe in the government contracting out for the services it is supposed to provide. I also don't believe in the government providing any services, but if the government does provide them then the government should be the one that provides them.

That's a naked assertion.

Where is the evidence that the government can necessarily provide any service better?

I didn't say that they could run it better, I said that running a prison is something that a government does. The locking up of criminals isn't done by private agencies, it is done by the law enforcement apparatus of a government.

Because it is something that a government does, not something a private party does, therefore it should be done by the government. None of the contract prison that the uninformed call private prisons. There is no such thing as a private prison, so we are actually discussing contracting a job out.

I never said that they do it better, but then that assumes locking people up could be done better. It's like asking for the other great government activity, war, and asking if that could be done better.