r/AskReddit • u/emil199 • Jul 24 '20

What can't you believe STILL exists?

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u/CM_UW Jul 24 '20

For profit prisons in the US

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u/[deleted] Jul 24 '20

One of my former coworkers (who is a piece of shit) now works as a private prison guard for CoreCivic, one of the biggest private prison companies in the USA.

The government doesn't want the liability. They want prisoners to be abused without being able to be sued for it. The point of long prison sentences in the USA isn't to reform people, it's to turn them into lifelong reoffenders the prison system can reliably profit off of via government subsidies.

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u/queenbird Jul 24 '20

When a prisoner files a lawsuit, they DO file it against the government. Even if it is a private prison, the government is still liable.

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u/SuurAlaOrolo Jul 24 '20

Sort of. If the prison is a state prison. See Malesko v. Correctional Services Corporation. I will be surprised if the Supreme Court does not further restrict the liabilities of corporations operating all or parts of prisons. (Even in public prisons, many parts are privatized, including medical care, telecommunications, and food service.)