Criminal or Commodity?

One in every 86 adults living in Louisiana are living in prison, totaling 40,000 inmates and topping every other state and country's rate of imprisonment. The problem of crime in Louisiana is an obvious one, as breaking news along with mug shots flash across our televisions, computers, and newspapers on daily basis. Although the amount of convicted criminals has been on a steady increase, the frequency of criminal activity has not decreased in our state. This is, firstly, due to a lack of programs to assist youth in pursuing a positive future, as well as a virtual failure of basic systems, which can be seen through our high poverty rates and low-ranking public school systems, in addition to other appalling factors. However, there is another, hidden influence that is largely causing a continuous influx of imprisonments.

53% of prisoners in Louisiana are in private, for-profit prisons. Sheriffs, who seek to fill as many beds as possible in order to receive more compensation, often run these prisons. The state government pays local prisons for each inmate in their prison. "Each inmate is worth $24.39 a day in state money, and sheriffs trade them like horses, unloading a few extras on a colleague who has openings. A prison system that leased its convicts as plantation labor in the 1800s has come full circle and is again a nexus for profit." This $24.39 is spent very little on the inmates or the prison. The meals served cost less than $2 per day per person, and there are little to no rehabilitation services offered to those in prison. The money made in these businesses help fund new technology and cars in parish sheriff departments. Although this could be a positive thing, the money made in prisons should go towards improving the prisons and the lives of those in prison.

While inmates in state prisons, who often have life sentences, are able to participate in meaningful work, such as welding and yard work--and Angola Prison even offers a college program in Biblical studies--those in local jails have little to do to pass the time and virtually no doors being opened to them to make a better life for themselves. Worse, as those serving shorter sentences usually occupy local prisons, once these inmates leave, they are hardly able to make a living through any legal means. Many places do not hire convicted criminals, especially those who pay well enough to make a living and support yourself, let alone a family. This leads to a cycle of reimprisonment and often will eventually lead to a life sentence through Louisiana's "Three Strikes and You're Out" law.

Because these prisons are looking to make a profit from those in their prisons, there is really very little desire in those who are in power to decrease the rate of imprisonment in our state. Criminals are now being treated as commodities, as these prisons' business plans are centered on maintaining large numbers of inmates.