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Prisons: America's growth industry
Inside the borders of the United States resides a separate nation of 2.3 million people. It's a nation in constant flux, with 700,000 residents released each year, their places soon taken by 700,000 others. It's a land where the meals are free but the doors are always locked.

"Traditional prison," writes Graeme Wood in this month's Atlantic, "has become more or less synonymous with failed prison." One radical solution: scale back traditional prisons in favor of sophisticated monitoring devices.

The Dutch justice ministry has announced it will close eight prisons and cut 1,200 jobs in the prison system. A decline in crime has left many cells empty.
During the 1990s the Netherlands faced a shortage of prison cells, but a decline in crime has since led to overcapacity in the prison system. The country now has capacity for 14,000 prisoners but only 12,000 detainees.

An article about prison in the United States of America. Read more here: http://www.infowars.com/the-prison-industrial-complex-the-economics-of-i...

[Infographic] Combating Mass Incarceration - The Facts

The war on drugs has helped make the U.S. the world's largest incarcerator.

America’s criminal justice system should keep communities safe, treat people fairly, and use fiscal resources wisely. But more Americans are deprived of their liberty than ever before - unfairly and unnecessarily, with no benefit to public safety. Especially in the face of economic crisis, our government should invest in alternatives to incarceration and make prisons options of last – not first – resort.

The justice ministry said judges were ready to work around the clock to implement the pardon because they have to visit each of more than 30 prisons and assess every prisoner who may qualify for release.

Supporters of the amnesty say it will reduce prison overcrowding.

A proposal by U.S. Sen. Bill Nelson to give officers technology used by the military to see through walls is raising eyebrows.The technology would give officers the ability to see where people are inside a building or house before they go inside.

Americans make up just 5 percent of the world's population but account for 25 percent of the population behind bars. Why? Because prisons are a big business and the WAR on Drugs, CNN reporter Fareed Zakaria says. The total number of Americans under correctional supervision (prison, parole, etc.) is 7.1 million, more than the entire state of Massachusetts. Prisons are a big business. Most are privately run, have powerful lobbyists and have bought most state politicians.

Crime is going down in America, but more Americans than ever are in prison—and more and more money is being spent and made, turning this country into a giant armed camp. Here are some key points about the private prison industry: