via Flickr
California passed a bill that BANS for-profit prison facilities, and it’s great news. Private prisons mix money with the prison system in more ways than one and add an incentive for people to see us locked up! Now, what’s happening in California should inspire us all.
California was huge for private prisons, with “more than 2,200 people… held in such facilities as of June” as reported by Vice. The bill was introduced by Assemblyman Rob Bonta, who said “it was a stand against companies that ‘only care about the almighty dollar.’” We need more like it!
Private prison companies like the Geo Group and CoreCivic have played an important role in trying to influence laws that target Black people. They do this so they can lock more of us up since they make money off of housing inmates at states’ expense. It’s really messed up!
California was a big market for private prison companies, but now this is messing things up for them in the best way possible. We can only hope that more states follow this example and that these companies go OUT OF BUSINESS.
The more of these places closing their doors the better. California took a great step to show other states how it’s done, BUT there’s still a long way to go. Private companies are interwoven into the public prison system too. Prisons shouldn’t be a money-making scheme for anyone!