Why for-profit prisons fill with inmates of color

Pfc. Sandoval, CC Liu (eds.), Wisdom Quarterly; Rina Palta (NPR/SCPR.org, March 13, 2014) Why for-profit prisons house more inmates of color; Robert May (facebook.com)

"Kids for Cash" is a shocking and riveting real-life documentary thriller that rivals fiction.

"Kids for Cash" examines the notorious true story of judicial scandal that has recently rocked the nation. Beyond the millions of dollars paid to corrupt judges to jail kids by private for-profit prisons, it exposes a shocking American secret. In the wake of the shootings at Columbine, a small town celebrates a law-and-order judge who is hell-bent on keeping kids "in line." Then one parent dares to question the real motives behind his brand of "justice." This real-life story reveals the untold stories of the masterminds at the center of the scandal to fill up for-profit prisons with any children available, guilty or not, and the chilling aftermath of lives destroyed in the process. It is a stunning emotional roller coaster.

A new study by a UC Berkeley graduate student has surprised a number of experts in the criminology field. Its main finding is that private prisons are packed with young people of color.

 

The concept of racial disparities behind bars is not new. Study after study, report after report, working group after working group has found a version of the same conclusion [ -- the country and courts are affected by ethnic prejudice, economic biases, and subtle racism that people find too uncomfortable to discuss or recognize]. 

Prisons for Profit (WQ)

The Sentencing Project estimates that one in three black men will spend time behind bars during their lifetime, compared to one in six Latino men, and one in seventeen white men. Arrest rates for marijuana possession are four times higher for black Americans than white Americans. 

 

Black men spend an average of 20 percent longer behind bars [when everything else is controlled for] in federal prisons than their white peers do for the same crimes.

 

These reports and thousands of others have the cumulative effect of portraying a criminal [in]justice system that disproportionately incarcerates black Americans and people of color in general.

 

Ruining lives the racist way: a young inmate of color walks through yard at the North Central Correctional Institution in Marion, Ohio, which recently switched to private for-pro management (Ty Wright/Bloomberg via Getty Images).

  

Int'l Women's Day, L.A. (WQ)

Berkeley sociology Ph.D. student Christopher Petrella's finding in "The Color of Corporate Corrections," however, tackles a different beast.

Beyond the historical over-representation of people of color in county jails and federal and state prisons, Petrella found that people of color "are further overrepresented in private prisons contracted by departments of correction in Arizona, California, and Texas."

This would mean that the racial disparities in private prisons housing state inmates are even greater than in publicly-run prisons. His paper sets out to explain why -- a question that starts with race, but takes him down a surprising path.

Age, race, and money

Prisoner (themonastery.org)

First, let's look at a bit of background. Private prisons house 128,195 inmates on behalf of the federal government and state governments (in 2010 numbers, which have increased by 2014). There is a continual debate among legislators and administrators as to which is more cost effective -- running a government-operated prison, with its government workers (and unions), or hiring a private for-profit company (like GEO or Corrections Corporation of America) to house prisoners. States like California, Arizona, and Texas use a combination... More

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F**K: Pope drops F-bomb before Lent (video)

Editors, Wisdom Quarterly; Morgan Lee, Global.ChristianPost.com, March 4, 2014

For cazzo, I mean, for example, I love young boys. - BOY: Help! He's touching me, he's touching me! - Maybe I should give this up for Lent, the cussing I mean (L'Osservatore Romano/AP).

 
Pope Francis lets loose Italian F-word  

Loves boys' heads (Time)

While delivering his weekly Sunday homily, the leader of the [Holy] Roman Catholic [Empire] accidentally uttered the Italian equivalent of the F-word.
 

The pope inadvertently confused the Italian word caso, which can mean a "case" or "example," with the vile swear word cazzo, though he hardly let it rattle him as he made his way through his prepared sermon.

The pope was in the middle of identifying the characteristics of Christians looking out for the less fortunate when he made his error.
 

Pretty in pink (msnbcmedia.msn.com)

"He [a Christian] doesn't accumulate wealth for himself but shares it to benefit other people. In this [fuck], in this case the providence of God will become visible through this gesture of solidarity," he said.
 
[The "gesture of solidarity" was presumably not a middle finger to the sky uniting humankind under one grand gesture.]
  

Pope Francis also reminded Christians, "Jesus has repeatedly warned the rich: a heart possessed by riches leaves little room for f..." More
   

(MAR) "F**K - the Documentary" by Steve Anderson (see details below)

In defense of the Holy Father, CEO Francis

Wisdom Quarterly (COMMENTARY)

Don't judge. This pope doesn't. Maybe, maybe, maybe what His Holiness, this Servant of God, Boss of the Vatican Corporation, the New and Improved Pope was alluding to was not a "case" (caso) but "F*CK" (Cazzo) the movie? 

F*CK is an American documentary by Steve Anderson that argues the title word is key to discussions on freedom of speech and censorship.

Sexual misconduct (patrickrothfuss/WQ)

It provides perspectives from art, linguistics, and society. Oxford English Dictionary editor Jesse Sheidlower, journalism analyst David Shaw, and linguists Reinhold Aman and Geoffrey Nunberg explain the word's evolution.

Comedian Billy Connolly states it can be understood regardless of one's background, and musician Alanis Morissette says its taboo nature gives it power. The film contains the last interview of author Hunter S. Thompson before his suicide. It features animated sequences by Bill Plympton.

Hollywood agrees (celebrityjuicer)

The documentary was first screened at the AFI Film Festival at ArcLight Hollywood. New York Times critic A.O. Scott called the film a battle between advocates of morality and supporters of freedom of expression; a review by the AFI said this freedom "must extend to words that offend." Other reviewers criticized the film's length and repetitiveness. Its DVD was released in the US and the UK and used in university courses. More

 

(Dogwoof) The F**k For Forest the Movie trailer

 

I love the, uh, the forest.

Or maybe what the Pontiff was referring to was the world's most emphatic environmental charity F**k for Forest, which goes by the motto: "Have Sex. Save the World."

Berlin’s F**k For Forest is at least one of the world’s most bizarre charities. Based on the idea that sex can save the world, the NGO raises money for their environmental cause by selling home-made erotic films on the Internet. And now a movie has been made about their efforts. More