Del i serien Studies in Postwar American Political Development

Captive Market

The Politics of Private Prisons in America

Häftad, Engelska, 2022

AvAnna Gunderson

459 kr

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A novel explanation for state prison privatization: that they do so to limit legal and political accountability for inmate lawsuits.One of the most controversial developments in the American criminal justice in the last few decades has been the development of the modern private prison industry. While there are many explanations proffered for the adoption of this policy--including partisanship, economic stress, unionization, and lobbying efforts by private prison firms--none fully explain why states privatize their prisons. In Captive Market, Anna Gunderson proposes a novel explanation for why states adopt this policy. She shows that states privatize prisons to limit legal and political accountability for inmate lawsuits, an unintended consequence of the legal rights revolution for prisoners. Evidence from an original dataset and interviews with private prison companies, government officials, and advocacy groups suggest that growing prisoner lawsuits are a significant driver of prison privatization in the United States. With over 160,000 inmates currently held in private facilities across the country, it is vital to understand the causes of this rise and the nuances of private prison policy, one with significant consequences for the American criminal legal system. An eye-opening account of an industry that many are aware of but few know much about, this book will reshape our understanding of the fundamental nature of the American carceral state.

Produktinformation

Utgivningsdatum2022-10-12
Mått233 x 154 x 11 mm
Vikt318 g
FormatHäftad
SpråkEngelska
SerieStudies in Postwar American Political Development
Antal sidor208
FörlagOUP USA
ISBN9780197624142

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Acknowledgments Chapter 1: Just Like Selling Cars, Real Estate, or Hamburgers1.1 Private Prisons Enter the Market1.2 Continuing Controversies1.3 The Growth of the Carceral State and Carceral Governance1.4 Looking Ahead Chapter 2: Profit in American Corrections2.1 Private Interests and Carceral Institutions2.2 Modern Private Prisons2.3 Existing Research and Limited Data2.4 A Source of New Data on Private Prisons Chapter 3: The Rights Revolution and Prison Privatization3.1 The Judiciary's "Hands-Off" Attitude and Slaves of the State3.2 The Rise of Mass Incarceration3.3 Inmate Lawsuit Growth and Private Prisons3.4 What About Successful Lawsuits?3.5 Accountability and Privatization Chapter 4: Inmate Lawsuits and Private Prisons4.1 Data: Private Prisons and Inmate Litigation4.2 Lawsuits and Other Explanations for Privatization4.3 Instrumental Variables Estimation4.4 Accountability and Privatization in Context Chapter 5: Do Private Prison Firms Respond to Successful Prison Litigation?5.1 The Obama DOJ and Private Prisons5.2 Investors and Company Stock Performance5.3 Private Prison Firm Stocks and Politics5.4 Event Study Methodology5.5 Successful Lawsuits Prompt Company Caution Chapter 6: Captive Market6.1 You Send a Check and Send a Prisoner6.2 It's Like Comparing Atrocity to Atrocity6.3 As Long as They're Functioning, That's Fine6.4 They Are Always Going to Have a Place6.5 Metastasis of the Larger Cancer of Mass Incarceration Appendices

Though it originated as a doctoral thesis, this book reads like a monograph and provides a truly comprehensive understanding of the development and consequences of private prisons. The writing is articulate, and Gunderson (Louisiana State Univ.) supports her suppositions and conclusions with data, which are presented both in-line in a format accessible to interested readers and in a thorough appendix and bibliography for scholars and researchers. The book is concise...The reader comes away with an understanding of the incentives and costs that have led to prison privatization.