Comic Discussion > QUESTIONABLE CONTENT
WCDT 2957-2961 (11-15 May 2015)
ZoeB:
--- Quote from: jwhouk on 16 May 2015, 18:21 ---Oh, and last I checked, ZoeB, probation and parole (what we call Community Corrections in Wisconsin) are government-run entities. And I can guarantee you that we don't profit from them at all.
--- End quote ---
In fact it's illegal under Wisconsin law to run private prisons, right?
--- Quote ---Walker, like many state legislators during this time, argued that private prisons cost less yet deliver the same quality as their public counterparts.
Decades of research, however, have shown the opposite to be true: across the country, private prisons have been plagued by lax security, falsifying records to cover up understaffing, rampant prisoner mistreatment, and in many cases actually cost taxpayers more money than public prisons.
Private prisons also have a clear incentive to increase prison populations—in fact, most private prisons demand a “lockup quota” whereby the state guarantees that most private prison beds will be filled (or would pay for unused beds if crime rates dip). The quota is typically 90 percent, though in some instances can be as high as 100 percent.
Walker still wanted private prisons to play a big role in Wisconsin. But the tricky part was that Wisconsin laws forbid private prisons inside the state. So Walker found a pretty good work-around. In 1997, he voted to allow the Wisconsin Department of Corrections to ship inmates to private prisons in other states. This built off legislation Walker co-sponsored in 1995 that first allowed Wisconsin to ship inmates off to public prisons elsewhere.
Following the bill’s passage, when the DOC formally proposed a contract in 1998 to ship inmates to out-of-state private prisons, Walker was a vocal advocate, boasting online about his work on the matter. “This plan keeps inmates locked up and it saves taxpayers money,” Walker said.
Throughout 1990s and early 2000s, with Walker at the helm of the assembly’s Committee on Corrections and the Courts, Wisconsin shipped around 5,000 inmates to Oklahoma, Tennessee, and Minnesota. Most of the prisoners, along with almost $45 million in Wisconsin taxpayer money, went to private prisons operated by one company: the Corrections Corporation of America.
CCA is the largest private prison operator in the country, running more than sixty prisons with over 90,000 beds across the country, and generating $1.7 billion in revenue. It’s the biggest player in a private prison industry in the United States that has spent $45 million in the last decade on political contributions and lobbyists.
--- End quote ---
http://www.thenation.com/article/199369/how-scott-walker-built-career-sending-wisconsin-inmates-private-prisons
Timemaster:
Hello QC-friends,
I´m just returning from a long weekend in Denmark and still have my luggage to sort out. So I have to make this short.
The last strip is a perfect epilogue to the Momo-stroryline. Momo is positive and satisfied with her life. Her trials and tribulations are rather petty and generally she enjoys life because she has found her perfect place in it.
May on the other hand is far from satisfied. She hates her job and has to live a life wich is far from her choice.
This contrast between the two lifes of Momo and May shows that not everything is always nice and fine for the AI´s in the QC-verse. They have to cope with everday-life and this is not always as simple as Momos life. So it is pretty much like the human life after all. How many people have the perogative to live the life they would chooce? Not everyone.
So this strip levels Momos story out. A fine contrast to the positive story of the last days. And a perfect plot twist.
I like it. 8-)
TM
jwhouk:
--- Quote from: ZoeB on 17 May 2015, 00:47 ---
--- Quote from: jwhouk on 16 May 2015, 18:21 ---Oh, and last I checked, ZoeB, probation and parole (what we call Community Corrections in Wisconsin) are government-run entities. And I can guarantee you that we don't profit from them at all.
--- End quote ---
In fact it's illegal under Wisconsin law to run private prisons, right?
--- Quote ---Walker, like many state legislators during this time, argued that private prisons cost less yet deliver the same quality as their public counterparts.
Decades of research, however, have shown the opposite to be true: across the country, private prisons have been plagued by lax security, falsifying records to cover up understaffing, rampant prisoner mistreatment, and in many cases actually cost taxpayers more money than public prisons.
Private prisons also have a clear incentive to increase prison populations—in fact, most private prisons demand a “lockup quota” whereby the state guarantees that most private prison beds will be filled (or would pay for unused beds if crime rates dip). The quota is typically 90 percent, though in some instances can be as high as 100 percent.
Walker still wanted private prisons to play a big role in Wisconsin. But the tricky part was that Wisconsin laws forbid private prisons inside the state. So Walker found a pretty good work-around. In 1997, he voted to allow the Wisconsin Department of Corrections to ship inmates to private prisons in other states. This built off legislation Walker co-sponsored in 1995 that first allowed Wisconsin to ship inmates off to public prisons elsewhere.
Following the bill’s passage, when the DOC formally proposed a contract in 1998 to ship inmates to out-of-state private prisons, Walker was a vocal advocate, boasting online about his work on the matter. “This plan keeps inmates locked up and it saves taxpayers money,” Walker said.
Throughout 1990s and early 2000s, with Walker at the helm of the assembly’s Committee on Corrections and the Courts, Wisconsin shipped around 5,000 inmates to Oklahoma, Tennessee, and Minnesota. Most of the prisoners, along with almost $45 million in Wisconsin taxpayer money, went to private prisons operated by one company: the Corrections Corporation of America.
CCA is the largest private prison operator in the country, running more than sixty prisons with over 90,000 beds across the country, and generating $1.7 billion in revenue. It’s the biggest player in a private prison industry in the United States that has spent $45 million in the last decade on political contributions and lobbyists.
--- End quote ---
http://www.thenation.com/article/199369/how-scott-walker-built-career-sending-wisconsin-inmates-private-prisons
--- End quote ---
Yes. In fact, my former place of work was rumored to be a possible location for a for-profit prison sale. The problem is, the land surrounding it is state forest, and beyond the boundaries of the forest is homeland in the rolling hills of Waukesha - and million dollar homes.
Oh, and one other thing that isn't mentioned - the prisoners themselves won a legal challenge against the law allowing the DOC to move prisoners to a CCA-run facility out of state.
cesium133:
--- Quote from: Jeph's Twitter ---Well that's the next week's comics written. This is 100% a case of "write what you know"
--- End quote ---
I'm guessing we'll be seeing more Faye this week.
Either that or five days of Yelling Bird and Shebly. Either's good.
Storel:
--- Quote from: jwhouk on 16 May 2015, 18:20 ---
--- Quote from: Storel on 15 May 2015, 21:41 ---Aha, thank you!
--- End quote ---
Thanking someone for posting a TV Tropes link... May God have mercy on your soul.
--- End quote ---
Ha, I didn't even look at the TV Tropes link -- jwhouk's explanation said everything I needed to know. :-D
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