Privatizing prisons and detention facilities is one of the worst public policy decisions this country has ever made.

[Swede]

It is so open for abuse.

GEO Group is getting a nearly $1 billion contract to run Delaney Hall. They tell me there is one full-time doctor for 800 detainees.

Sen. Andy Kim: "It's a choice. Delaney Hall is run by GEO Group. GEO Group is getting a nearly billion contract to run Delaney Hall. They tell me there is one full-time doctor for 800 detainees. They could have more doctors if they wanted to, but that's cutting into their profits."

— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar.com) 2026-05-31T14:55:47.313Z

[wnylib]

1. I've been saying this for years.

Private prisons have no place in a democracy.

[malaise]

3. The new plantations and chain gangs

Effin madness

[eppur_se_muova]

4. Not a problem for Uglicans -- they don't really want a democracy anyway.

Private prisons are a step in the right direction for them.

[CrispyQ]

8. Private industry profiting off of locking up our fellow citizens & lobbying congress for draconian laws.

Back when I still conversed with the right-wingers in my family I tried to point out how corrupt & unfair that arrangement was, but the response I got was, "If you can't do the time don't do the crime." The religious right especially gets off on punishment, IMO.

The most depressing funeral I went to was for an aunt of mine, a joyful woman with a huge heart, who married into a very religious family—some of the right-wingers mentioned above. The minister went on about how despite outward appearances, only God knows what's in our hearts, & if we're deserving of going to heaven. As an atheist I find funerals & people's reactions interesting, but I've never been to a funeral with such a downhead message.

[mahina]

2. Andy Kim gives me hope. So does

Sheldon White House, Jamie, Raskin, Elizabeth Warren, Mazie Hirono, our representative Jill Tokuda, and some others. AOC. Bernie of course. And Joe and Jill Biden and Barack Obama.

And you guys

[OGBuzz]

18. I hope Jasmine Crockett runs again for the House. She is fearless.

[mahina]

23. I feel the same!

[cynical_idealist]

27. attorney general

[Envirogal]

5. Just own the responsibility

If you are going to be a country with the highest incarceration rate, then it is up to the country and its taxpayers to take on the burden directly and not outsource this to private for-profit corporations, many publicly traded on the stock market.

[Uncle Joe]

6. The very idea is so asinine, immoral, and ridden with conflicts of interest to the point

that it threatens our democracy itself.

It's one step above the institution of slavery, and can only breed corruption.

Thanks for the thread Swede

[Soul_of_Wit]

17. The constitution says all prions (not just for-profit ones) can use slave labor

The fact that some prisons pay a near-zero wage does not make this untrue.

[Uncle Joe]

21. That's correct, but private for profit prisons send lobbyists to bribe government officials

to maximize draconian laws just to increase the profit margins for those prisons, and they create a degree of separation in regards to accountability.

Government run prisons are at least theoretically beholden to the public as in "We the People."

Near zero wages don't serve the public interest in any case.

[WhiskeyGrinder]

7. Prisons and concentration camps make money whether they're privatized or not. That's why the exist. The only difference

is where the profit goes. Only about 10% of prisons are private.

[Soul_of_Wit]

13. Governments are more accountable

This is true even with the context of an imperfect US Constitution allowing slavery in prisons.

[WhiskeyGrinder]

19. It's still profit and slave labor.

[crud]

9. I remember when Little Joe

got arrested by a crooked sherif and forced to work in a mine. I learned this shit was wrong as kid watching Bonanza.

[Buddyzbuddy]

10. Completely agree.

Also, private military contractors.
Trained on our dime then recruited into private armies with weaponry to rival our own military. HUGE MISTAKE!

[Easterncedar]

11. True. Horrifically true

[BlueTsunami2018]

12. Yeah, Capitalism sucks.

Every problem we have can be traced right back to one source. Healthcare sucks? Capitalism. Education sucks? Capitalism. Homeless people? Capitalism. Food insecurity? Capitalism. Environmental degradation? Capitalism. Lack of equity? Capitalism.

Our tax dollars are spent to kill people around the world and steal their resources. Why? Capitalism.

Privatizing prisons is inherently going to be corrupt because the point isn’t rehabilitation or making sure justice is done, it’s about filling beds and giving the least amount of care possible because you want to squeeze every last bit of profit out of it as you can.

How many judges have had cases against them for throwing as many people in jail as they can for kickbacks?

The problem is capitalism, it’s always been the problem, it’ll always be the problem.

[OGBuzz]

20. Yet the capitalists tell us that socialism is the root of all evil.

Maybe they should ask the Nordic countries which practice democratic socialism and consistently lead the world in happiness rankings. USA ranks #23.

[The Wizard]

14. This was covered in Kurt Vonnegut's 1990 novel, "Hocus Pocus."

On another note: Remember the two Pennsylvania Judges who were taking bribes and for unwarranted sentencing of juveniles to private detention camps that were reimbursed by the state? They were sentenced to prison.

[OGBuzz]

15. I wonder if Geo Group founder and CEO George Zoley, a huge supporter

of Trump, has ever been served a piping hot bowl of porridge full of maggots.

[orangecrush]

16. Mass incarceration started under Reagan

And is becoming a dream grift today.

[SSJVegeta]

22. Why doesnt the government have a policy to subsidize more doctors?

They can even hire more doctors at a profit which would satisfy their profit motives and shareholders. The government can do this if it wanted. So far they pay for number of beds. But we can do better... try pay for number of doctors with incentivized premiums paid out, as well as voluntary inspections. Fresh food, humane treatment, etc.

[littlemissmartypants]

24. I recently read it's not just warehouse type facilities now...

Now, there are places that appear innocuous. Like in malls and other places like rented homes and unoccupied businesses in strip malls.

They are diversifying and going underground. Which is entirely predictable. They're criminals, after all.

Stealing, kidnapping people for profit isn't a noble profession.

We're going to have to undo this mess, and it will be difficult to do, but we have to do it.

[nuxvomica]

25. That's at least $1 million per detainee

I don't know the exact numbers for the contract or number of detainees, somewhere between 800 and 900, but let's say $1B for 1,000 detainees would be $1M per detainee. Any number anywhere close to that is insane. The annual cost per inmate in the Federal prison system for FY 2022 was $42,672, so where is that extra money going? Even the MAGA scum who are okay with the fascism and cruelty should be balking at the money being siphoned out of their pockets.

[sakabatou]

26. Put the entire C-suite of GEO Group in prison garb, and make them break rocks with pickaxes for 12+ hours

in sweltering heat and humidity. No breaks.

[ProfessorGAC]

28. It's Certainly Up There

Another was the decision to marketize the refined product from petroleum.
It completely removed the incentive to be a low cost provider. And, that was proposed by the sane people that wanted to privatize everything because competition was the solution. Then, they eliminated a point of competitiveness.
So, we've got 2 of the biggies covered.