Thread by @TheLoveBel0w

UPDATE: Private prisons are spending big on Kemp. Here's why:

“I do not believe in the privatization of justice. There's a profit motive behind private prisons that is anathema to the core of who we are as Americans” - Stacey Abrams

h/t: @MollyJongFast

readsludge.com/2018/11/02/pri…

UPDATE 2: The private prison industry remains active in the midterms. Beyond Republican political campaigns, they also give money to super PACs and conservative groups. So, it's no surprise to see Candace Owens shilling for them and against Andrew Gillum.

https://twitter.com/RealCandaceO/status/1054451706195525633

Earlier in this thread, I'd mentioned how for-profit prisons inevitably lobby to create more prisoners.

Well, it's now been revealed in emails that ICE and GEO, who both literally share employees, worked together to sue California to get more contracts.

https://twitter.com/jerryiannelli/status/1072148623599828997

**IMPORTANT THREAD UPDATE**

I see many in the media celebrating the First Step Act like a reminder of what bipartisanship can achieve.

Is it though?

I wondered what was behind Congress' sudden interest in prison reform. Then I noticed the bill's corporate sponsor...

It turns out that GEO and CoreCivic, the 2 main private prison corporations in America, are buying up halfway houses all over to keep profiting off prisoners even after they're freed. To ensure returns on their investments, they lobbied for "prison reform" via the First Step Act.

Don't believe me that private prison companies backed the First Step Act in the name of profits? Check out Senator Dick Durbin's tweet from May.

Don't believe me that their lobbying efforts were effective? Check out Senator Dick Durbin's tweet from the night the bill passed.

I don't think it's a coincidence that Candace Owens put out private prison propaganda videos in tandem with their lobbying efforts. I don't think it's a coincidence that she used them to trash Democrats either.

The First Step Act *clearly* has its benefits, but also:

"The Bureau of Prisons is already supposed to be doing many of these things but has ignored Congressional mandates and its own policies, according to a number of federal audits and investigations"

themarshallproject.org/2018/11/16/wha…

The GOP has shifted the national conversation so far right, allowing corporations to write/amend/prioritize laws is now seen as a bipartisan win.

The line between public and corporate interests is now so blurred, people stopped asking where Congress' bread is getting buttered.

A government's capacity to treat its citizens with dignity should NEVER depend on a corporation's bottom line. In that regard, the First Step Act is a step in the wrong direction. BUT, if you elect politicians beholden only to their constituents, they can build on its best parts.

Those same private prison companies also own the electronic monitoring devices prisoners would have to wear once freed. That means privatized mass incarceration could turn into privatized mass surveillance...unless you demand more oversight for this bill.

truthout.org/articles/the-f…

ALWAYS follow the money.

https://twitter.com/thedailybeast/status/1078279342134841355