Private prisons, bail bonds, policing contracts, court fees, immigration detention. How the criminal-justice system became an industry, and who gets paid by the headcount.
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Two private companies, Securus Technologies and ViaPath, sit on nearly every prison and jail communications contract in the United States. The families of the incarcerated pay the bill, often at rates that would be illegal in any other consumer market. The FCC capped the rates in 2024. The contracts that produced the system remain.
The American bail bond industry, alone among advanced democracies, lets a private insurer decide whether a person accused of a crime walks free or sits in jail. Two…
Private prison companies operate as both legislative drafter and contract beneficiary. ALEC routes their model bills to friendly state legislators. Bed-guarantee clauses make criminal-justice reform expensive for states.…