Profit handsomely

The June edition of The Washington Spectator has only one article in its eight pages, rather than the usual 3-4 articles. This one is “Modern-Day Gulags In the Golden State” by Barbara Koeppel. It explains quite well why prisons should not be run for profit.

Back in 1997 the Supreme Court says that civil commitment is legal. Since then 20 states, including California, passed laws allowing for its use.

A criminal, in this case a sex offender, can continue to be incarcerated after the completion of his prison term if two psychologists can state the man *might* be a threat to society. The man isn’t held on criminal charges, but for civil reasons.

California opened the Coalinga State Hospital in 2006. Though it may not be owned by a for profit corporation, it is set up in such a way that the employees and those connected to the hospital profit handsomely from it.

Overall, employees and others get money for each man committed to the hospital. Which means, once a man is in it is very difficult to get out.

The hospital is paid by the number of men it holds. The men are evaluated by psychology technicians. They come up with all sorts of ways to recommend that a patient is not yet ready for release. And they can use that threat to coerce their patients. The hospital is able to keep up its numbers of incarcerated.

When a man needs medicine or tests the state is billed at exorbitant rates. The men are charged a lot extra for special food and “authorized” computer tablets.

Lawyers are paid by the action. A very lucrative action is to ask the court for a delay in a release hearing. Some men have been waiting 15 years for an actual hearing.

Even the correctional officers have rigged things so that transporting a man to a court date needs three officers and lots of overtime.

And all these employees and others usually record lots of overtime. They do it because nobody checks.

Of course, lots of money is spent keeping politicians in line. Voters love politicians who proclaim how they’re keeping citizens safe – even though this continued incarceration makes no difference in public safety.

And if a researcher shows what is up their results are quickly buried and funding is pulled.

Those that don’t profit: taxpayers and the incarcerated men.

This is me speaking now: Every person involved, from food concessions to lawyers to politicians, is saying I’m better than the incarcerated men. That’s real easy to do when talking about sex offenders. And because they’re so low on the social hierarchy I have no problem keeping them locked up so that I can continue to make hundreds of thousands of dollars off their misery.