[kictanet] The Expanding World of Poverty Capitalism

Mouz mouzmuyer at gmail.com
Thu Aug 28 14:37:43 EAT 2014


I watched a movie a while ago where the running of jails was outsourced to
private organizations - I thought it was absurd! However, it looks like we
are slowly getting to the point where Government functions are being
outsourced to the private sector!


On 27 August 2014 20:31, ICT Researcher via kictanet <
kictanet at lists.kictanet.or.ke> wrote:

>
>
> In Orange County, Calif., the probation department’s “supervised
> electronic confinement program,” which monitors the movements of low-risk
> offenders, has been outsourced to a private company, Sentinel Offender
> Services. The company, by its own account, oversees case management,
> including breath alcohol and drug-testing services, “all at no cost to
> county taxpayers.”
>
> Sentinel makes its money by getting the offenders on probation to pay for
> the company’s services. Charges can range from $35 to $100 a month.
>
> The company boasts of having contracts with more than 200 government
> agencies, and it takes pride in the “development of offender funded
> programs where any of our services can be provided at no cost to the
> agency.”
>
> Sentinel is a part of the expanding universe of poverty capitalism. In
> this unique sector of the economy, costs of essential government services
> are shifted to the poor.
>
> In terms of food, housing and other essentials, the cost of being poor has
> always been exorbitant. Landlords, grocery stores and other commercial
> enterprises have all found ways to profit from those at the bottom of the
> ladder.
>
> The recent drive toward privatization of government functions has turned
> traditional public services into profit-making enterprises as well.
>
> In addition to probation, municipal court systems are also turning
> collections over to a national network of companies like Sentinel that
> profit from service charges imposed on the men and women who are under
> court order to pay fees and fines, including traffic tickets (with the fees
> being sums tacked on by the court to fund administrative services).
>
> When they cannot pay these assessed fees and fines – plus collection
> charges imposed by the private companies — offenders can be sent to jail.
> There are many documented cases in which courts have imprisoned those who
> failed to keep up with their combined fines, fees and service charges.
>
> “These companies are bill collectors, but they are given the authority to
> say to someone that if he doesn’t pay, he is going to jail,” John B. Long,
> a lawyer in Augusta, Ga. active in defending the poor, told Ethan Bronner
> of The Times..
>
> Read more:
>
>
> http://nytimes.com/2014/08/27/opinion/thomas-edsall-the-expanding-world-of-poverty-capitalism.html
>
>
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-- 
./mouz
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