Have Inmates Become Commodities On Wall Street?

Prison populations are constantly growing, recessions lead to overcrowded government prisons, and the government will look to private firms to house the excess inmate population.

Crime always goes up in a bad economy.  Where's there are good times and jobs are plentiful, people who get out of prison can usually find work

 and don't have to go back to their old ways.

When the economy fails, so do the former inmates.

Private prison populations have increased faster than the entire incarcerated population. During the last decade, the total prison population grew by 16%. Simultaneously, the number of federal prisoners in private facilities grew by 120%, while the number of state prisoners in private facilities grew by 33%.

According to the state government of California, the average cost to house an individual prisoner for one year is a whopping $47,102. By comparison, the average income for an American individual is $47,200, according to the CIA(GDP per capita purchasing power parity).

The prison industry could be nearing a turning point. Millions of inmates, a very large portion of the total prison population, are serving time for non-violent drug crimes – a group that could decrease in size with looser drug enforcement laws, like the recent decriminalization of marijuana use in Connecticut where Gov. Malloy said that he would prefer to use the criminal justice resources for more serious and violent crime.

“… in a time of declining crime rates and tight state budgets, smart reforms are gaining ground, and most aim to reduce the prison population,” writes The Economist.

Interested in conducting your own research into the private prison industry? To help you out, here is a list of the two largest companies in the industry. Where do you think these stocks are heading?

1. Corrections Corporation of America (CXW): Property Management industry with a market cap of $2.4B. It specializes in owning, operating, and managing prisons and other correctional facilities and providing inmate residential and prisoner transportation services for governmental agencies. As of December 31, 2010, it operated 66 correctional and detention facilities, including 45 facilities that it owns, with a total design capacity of approximately 90,000 beds in 19 states and the District of Columbia.

As of December 31, 2010, it was also constructing an additional 1,124-bed correctional facility in Millen, Georgia. It also owns two additional correctional facilities that it leases to third-party operators. Its facilities offer a range of rehabilitation and educational programs, including basic education, religious services, life skills and employment training, and substance abuse treatment. It also provides healthcare (including medical, dental, and psychiatric services), food services, and work and recreational programs.

2. The GEO Group, Inc. (GEO): Security & Protection Services industry with a market cap of $1.45B. It is a provider of government-outsourced services specializing in the management of correctional, detention, mental health, residential treatment and re-entry facilities, and the provision of community-based services and youth services in the United States, Australia, South Africa, the United Kingdom and Canada.

It operates a range of correctional and detention facilities, including maximum, medium and minimum security prisons, immigration detention centers, minimum security detention centers, mental health, residential treatment and community-based, re-entry facilities. It offers counseling, education and/or treatment to inmates with alcohol and drug abuse problems at most of the domestic facilities, which it manages. It also provides secure transportation services for offender and detainee populations as contracted.

Don't allow human beings to become commodities like oil or pork bellies

on Wall Street!

Demand that bailed-out banks and businesses like Wells Fargo divest in GEO and CXW, companies that make their money off of incarcerating our families and neighbors for longer and in more harsh conditions--for profit be shut down!

Remember- if you have a Wells Fargo account, this is a great day to put your money in a bank that doesn’t devastate families and communities!

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Peace and Love 

TLW, Editor 

LifePlusUs@gmail.com