Lucas -
Today in America, shamefully, we have more people in jail than any other
country on earth. The United States is home to 4.4 percent of the world’s
population, and 22 percent of its prisoners.
A big reason for this is because companies that profit from prisons have
spent millions of dollars lobbying for laws that needlessly keep people
behind bars for far too long.
It is our job, in my view, to recreate our criminal justice system.
And I believe that we cannot do that as long as corporations are allowed
to profit from mass incarceration.
Today this situation has gotten so out of hand that our prisoners are
no longer people — they have simply become ​sources of profit as
laborers who work for pennies an hour on behalf of major corporations.
Keeping human beings in jail for long periods of time must no longer be
an acceptable business model. Our focus should be on treating people with
dignity and ensuring they have the resources they need to get back on
their feet when they get out. I am glad that President Obama last week
ordered the release of nearly 6,000 nonviolent offenders from federal
prison, but there is much more to do.
I have recently introduced legislation that will put an end to for-profit prisons. My bill will bar federal, state, and local governments from contracting
with private companies who manage prisons, jails, or detention facilities.
And it will require Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) to improve
their monitoring of detention facilities and eliminate private detention
centers within 2 years.
Now I want to know if you’re willing to fight with me on this issue.
Sign my petition in support of my Justice is Not for Sale Act and say you’ve
had enough of millionaires and billionaires profiting by keeping more
and more Americans behind bars.
The private-for-profit prison racket is a $70 billion industry, and with
so much money at stake, it’s not surprising they’ve corrupted
our political process.
The industry has contributed millions of dollars to candidates in pursuit
of laws that increase incarceration of nonviolent offenders — a
practice that disproportionately impacts people of color in the United
States. We must stop the practice of governments guaranteeing prison occupancy
as part of deals with private corporations that incentivize states to
keep prison cells filled. And we must stop the practice of private companies
charging exorbitant rates for prisoners to contact their families by phone
— sometimes up to several dollars per minute to talk with loved
ones, and charging outrageous service fees to prisoners trying to access
their money upon release. That kind of exploitation takes an already difficult
family dynamic between husbands, wives, parents and children and strains
it even further.
It is wrong to profit from the imprisonment of human beings and the suffering
of their families and friends. It’s time to end this morally repugnant
process, and along with it, the era of mass incarceration.
But my legislation goes even further. It also takes steps to reduce our
bloated inmate population by reinstating the federal parole system so
that officials can individually assess each prisoner’s risk and
chance for rehabilitation. It ends the immigrant detention quota, which
requires officials to hold a minimum of 34,000 people captive at any given
time. And it would end the detention of immigrant families, many of whom
are currently held in privately-owned facilities in Texas and Pennsylvania.
If we act, not only can we prevent thousands of lives from being destroyed,
but we can save billions of taxpayer dollars.
Join me today.
Sign my petition in support of my Justice is Not for Sale Act and say you’ve
had enough of millionaires and billionaires profiting by keeping more
and more Americans behind bars.
This legislation enjoys a broad coalition of support on both sides of
the aisle. And if we stand together and continue to bring attention to
this issue, we can put a stop to the abomination of private prisons profiting
from human suffering.
Thank you for standing with me.
In solidarity,
Bernie Sanders