Hey, Morris friends. Wanna know how bad your State Senator Torrey Westrom is? From 2011. --- Representative Torrey Westrom has been pushing bills for using private prisons for years--witness this 2009 press release that cites research by an ideological think tank --as a cost-saving measure. As the Star Tribune reported back in March in Push for private prisons draws fire, hes been at it again this year. ... Though no specific company or facility is mentioned in Westroms bill, the only private prison in Minnesota is the now-shuttered Prairie Correctional Facility in Appleton, owned by Corrections Corporation of America. The company is known for its aggressive drafting and lobbying of bills to build its business. In the Strib coverage of the bill, Kevin Giles reported: Westrom said it makes sense to use the Appleton prison rather than let it sit empty. This is curious. Why should the fact that the prison is empty be reason in and of itself to fill it? Its not empty at government expense; thats a privately owned facility. Perhaps Westroms hollow reasoning helps underscore the problems with treating prisoners or detainees like any other commodity to be traded in a market. A government mandated market for human bodies? May not be the best illustration of a free market at work.
Posted on: Thu, 14 Aug 2014 02:20:26 +0000
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