Spring 1999 edtion of As the South Goes...

Uncovering the Prison Industrial Complex

by Abbie Illenberger

The Prison Industrial Complex. A daunting, sterile, technical name for a system of government institutions, corporations, policies, technology and cultural attitudes that is rocking our communities on a daily basis. Like many of the crises we face today, this system - which includes prisons, police, and the militarization of the border - impacts our communities in many ways and has complex and deep roots. In addition, there is a very real desire for safety in our communities. The promoters of this system have done their best to use the issue of safety to confuse us - dividing us against ourselves and masking the true nature of this new "prison industrial complex."

In order to bring real safety to our communities and win justice for those who are trapped in our criminal justice system, we have to unmask the prison industrial complex. We have to organize ourselves based on an accurate understanding of what it looks like in our communities and what drives it. What makes it work?

Private Prisons: Punishment for Profit

The Corrections Corporation of America (CCA), based in Nashville, TN, has the largest share of the private prison "market". In 1997, CCA was one of the most successful companies on Wall Street. In 1998, their annual revenues were $462 million and their net profit increased by 57% to $53.9 million. They claim 54,944 beds in 68 facilities in 4 countries.

1983 - CCA is started with major start-up investment from Honey Alexander (wife of then TN governor Lamar Alexander) and Ned McWherter (then Speaker of the TN House, later became governor).

1985-86 - CCA spends $1 million lobbying to take over the entire TN state prison system. The opposition, led by a labor and community coalition, forced the legislature to table the privatization legislation.

1994 - CCA finds a new way to build and operate prisons in Tennessee. They contract with Hardeman County to build and operate a county-level facility. The county then contracts with TN to house 1500 state prisoners and CCA turns a profit on those prison beds. CCA builds another prison in Hardeman Co. on speculation - wagering that there will be enough prisoners that the state will make another contract with the county.

CCA's prisons are the largest employers in Hardeman Co. The county lies on cotton-farming land in West TN. Its population is poor, rural and majority African American.

The Face Of It

In our communities the prison industrial complex looks many different ways. It takes the shape of...
schools falling down, 25 percent of Black men missing, new state-of-the-art prisons cropping up, people being shot and killed by the police and the Border Patrol, jobs lost as they go behind prison walls, 1 million people of color absent on election day, young people regularly harassed in their own neighborhoods

Our communities are occupied by militarized police and border patrol units. Criminal Justice Agencies alone cost $101 billion each year (taxpayer's money) and do little to prevent crime or rehabilitate people. We spend $25,000/yr. to keep someone in prison. "We, as a society, could decide to send that person to college," says Sol's of the Southwest Public Workers Union.

So what drives it? "The cost of the latest crime bill is enormous. [We have to ask] who benefited from this?" asks Nguyen. This complicated web of get tough on crime policies, multi-million dollar facilities, cutting edge surveillance technology, private investment and ever-growing law enforcement agencies must serve a purpose. What is it?

THE GUTS OF IT

If we dissect the elements of the prison industrial complex, it becomes clear that they have an economic purpose or serve a function of social control. And often, they do both.

The Dollars and (Non)Sense Of It

Bars of Gold
The building and operation of prisons and detention centers is big business. Prisons are the biggest growth industry in many states. Prisons and related facilities have become a form of economic development and a profit-making opportunity.

The Corrections Corporation of American (CCA) provides an excellent example. With 68 facilities under contract or in development (1), "CCA has been one of the most successful companies on Wall Street," reports Wray of Restorative Justice Ministries. So sure that they will have a secure supply of prisoners, CCA has built prisons on speculation. Talking about one such prison in Tennessee, Wray says, "that prison is now full of state prisoners. If you build it they will come." This is indeed a boom industry - Wray tells us that "6% of all prisoners in the U.S. are held in private prisons."


Who's The Target?

More than 1.5 million people are in prison. More than 70 percent of these are people of color.

More than 5 million people are under the surveillance of the criminal justice system.

In 1990, 58.2 percent of all those jailed were unemployed at the time of their arrest. 68 percent earned less than $15,000/year.

Amadou Diallo, an unarned Sengalese man, was killed by NYC Police, who shot at him 41 times-- hitting him 19 times. The same special street crime unit that killed Diallo stopped and searched 22,414 law-abiding people (almost exclusively young men of color) during 1998. This is Mayor Giuliani's plan to increase the "quality of life" in New York City.

Prison expansion enjoys support not only from its corporate beneficiaries, but also in the communities that house the facilities. Prisons are becoming one of the only forms of economic development that is offered to low-income communities. Describing two CCA prisons in Tennessee, Wray says, "these prisons are the largest employers in the county. This is a poor, rural Black community."

Work Behind the Walls
Throughout this country's history, prisoners have been forced to work. Following the Civil War, convicts were leased out to the plantation owners to work the fields. Today, like then, government and corporations are finding ways to pay workers as close to nothing as possible. The prison industrial complex is doing its part by bringing the jobs behind the walls. Companies like Motorola, IBM, Compaq, Revlon, TWA, and Best Western are paying prisoners $0.30 - 2.15/hr to do work that was once done by "free" workers.

"...prison labor is like a pot of gold. NO strikes. NO union organizing. No health benefits, unemployment insurance, or workers compensation or pay." (2) The use of prison labor also increases the competition for the shrinking number of jobs on the other side of the wall.

The increasing use of prison labor and the privatization of prisons and their operations create a significant group of people who benefit from policies that put people in prison for a long period of time. A stated goal of our criminal justice system is to prevent crime. Private companies make money based on the number of prisoners they house, hire, or provide services for (health care, etc.). When asked if this presents a conflict of interest, Sol's said, "It is not in the corporate agenda [to keep people out of jail] They have to keep the prisons full to keep the profits flowing." What is convincing millions of people to allow punishment to become a for-profit business?


Public Investment

We spend $25,000/year to keep a person in prison.

In many states, prisons are the fastest growing industry. We spend $101 billion each year for local, state and federal criminal justice agencies.

Prison and security guards are one of the top ten fastest growing jobs in the country.

The Federal Bureau of Prisons has 200 new prisons under construction-- at a cost of $4.3 billion.

In California, more than 20 new prisons have opened since 1984, while only one new campus was added to the California State University system. In 1996-1997, higher education received only 8.7 percent of the State's General Fund while corrections received 9.6 percent.

To Serve and Protect...Who?

Dividing Us Against Our selves
Large parts of our communities have been criminalized before our very eyes. Racism, the sensationalist media coverage of crime, and a desire to erase the visible signs of poverty work hand-in-hand with the policies and institutions of our criminal "injustice" system to attack young people, people of color and poor people. Fear and false ideas have divided our communities - impairing our ability to organize ourselves for real progress.

Describing the situation in his community, Nyguen says, "In the Vietnamese American community, when young men get arrested and framed as gang members...the community does not defend the young men. [People] are scared of the young men who hang on the corner. If anything, [those young men] have helped carry your groceries. When given the chance, these young men will do good. But, people are so quick to believe the police." This happens even when our experience and the facts tell us that the young people in our communities are not our enemies.

Under the new crime bill, with new resources, some law enforcement agencies have created brand new departments. "There are now specialists in Korean gangs, Chinese gangs, etc. while there is no evidence that there has been an upsurge in [this kind of] activity," says Nyguen.

Occupying Forces
Many low-income urban communities and U.S.-Mexico border communities live daily with the presence of militarized law enforcement units. The latest crime bill provided for 100,000 new police officers to be hired around the country, increasing the ranks of these units. Many of the major urban police departments, the border patrol, and the Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS) have adopted military technology and tactics.

"The border is a 3rd reality where a military/police force occupies the region and has suspended our constitutional rights. We are continually stopped, searched, and questioned...if you look Latino or Mexican," says Sol's. Nguyen shared similar information about the situation in California, "Between 1992-94 the police in Westminster - Orange Co. California stopped 716 youth for questioning. 72% of the youth stopped were Asian although Asians only comprise about 23% of the community."

It seems that everyday there is a new story of police or border patrol violence in our communities. Organizations have formed all across the country to respond to the number of deaths and beatings that have occurred at the hands of local law enforcement. The tension and fear in our communities continue to escalate.

The U.S. Mexico Border: A 3rd Reality

The INS budget has increased 1000 percent over the past three years --to 4.7 billion. What are they using it for?

The New Berlin Wall- The U.S. government is building a 3-layer wall --steal, cement and brick-- from the Pacific Coast to the Gulf of Mexico. It is built in sections, at strategic locations.

Militarized Zone

  • Operation Rio Grande (Brownsville)
  • Operation Hardline (El Paso)
  • Operation Gatekeeper (San Diego)

U.S. Marines are building the wall. National guard and military reserve units are used for vechile searches. Soliders are building helicopter pads and highways (military infrastructure) between Nuevo Laredo (Mexico) and Laredo (U.S.). In Brownsville, Border Patrol officers are parked every 50 yards in a corridor of light (stadium lights). Together the military forces, infrastructure and the physical border wall, make up the militarized zone.

The Result-- Increased violence. 387 people died crossing the border in 1998 (in documented cases). In 1998, Ezekiel Hernandez, Jr., 18-year old high school senior, was shot by Border Patrol officers in Redford, TX. He bled to death due to lack of medical attention.

No Relief in Sight-- In 1999, they will place 1000 additional Border Patrol officers on the Texas --Mexico border.

Response to the Boom Economy
Although we are living in a period of unprecedented economic growth (according the White House and Wall Street), many of our communities are facing economic crises. There is a lack of livable wage jobs, health care, good education, drug treatment facilities and affordable housing. These realities create the conditions under which people are forced to struggle to survive. Our criminal justice system has adapted to this reality- criminalizing many activities that are created by this economic situation, including sleeping in abandoned buildings and panhandling.

We also see an increase in non-violent crimes, or economic crimes. For example, women are increasingly being arrested and imprisoned for shoplifting and prostitution.(3) Faced with slave wages and intense exploitation in Mexico, Sol's says that "Many people cross [the border] to try to make a living, to survive. People are being put in prison for being economic refugees."

The future looks no better, as young people in our communities are educated in substandard schools. "You can see the disparity in schools- some schools spend $13,000 per student, some $4,000," says Sol's. Just as important as a quality education is a good job. Nguyen says, "If you don't provide young people with enough skills or good jobs when they graduate, then it's more likely they will commit economic crimes. It's like one big program- where young people are railroaded from school to prison." It is telling that in 1990, 58.2% of all those jailed were unemployed at the time of their arrest and 68% earned less than $15,000/yr.

As we try to understand the prison industrial complex, we have to look at all of these pieces together. We have to ask, why now? what else is happening in our communities? how is it related? Then we can begin to see the full picture.

Our organizing must also be crafted to confront the entire reality. So, when we are fighting for better schools, affordable housing, new youth programs, living wage jobs, drug treatment programs, or real safety in our communities, we must know and articulate that we are fighting against the future promised by this prison industrial complex, as well. We are fighting for a future where punishment won't be a for-profit business and people suffering at the hands of our economy won't be treated as criminals.

  1. Davis, Angela Y. "Masked Racism: Reflections On The Prison Industrial Complex," Colorlines. Fall 1998.
  2. Ibid.
  3. Lichtenstein, Alexander and Michael Kroll. "The Fortress Economy: The Economy Role of the U.S. Prison System," Criminal Injustice: Confronting the Prison Crisis. South End Press. 1996.


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