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Commercialized (In)Justice: Consumer Abuses in the Bail and Corrections Industry

Submitted by New Jersey Criminal Lawyer, Jeffrey Hark.

This National Consumer Law Center report examines the growing problem of consumer abuses by private companies profiting from the U.S. criminal legal system and mass incarceration, disproportionately affecting people of color and low-income people, and makes recommendations for reform.

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By the Numbers: Privatizing the U.S. Criminal Legal System

Overview

Since 1980, the number of people incarcerated in America increased from roughly 500,000 to over 2.2 million, and currently 4.5 million people across the nation are on probation or parole. During this time, state and local governments have sought to shift the cost of operating the criminal legal system onto those who have contact with the system and their loved ones, particularly through the assessment of fines and fees on those accused of criminal activity. At the same time, governments (federal, state, and local)  have outsourced various core functions of their criminal legal systems—traditionally public services—to private corporations operating to maximize profit for their owners and investors. These trends have led to the growing problem of “commercialized injustice”—consumer abuses perpetuated by private companies profiting from the criminal legal system and mass incarceration.

Low-income people entangled with these systems are subjected to costs imposed by private industry at every step in the process. As a result, these individuals and often their loved ones take on onerous debt, trapping many people in poverty. Many of the practices common in the corrections industry violate not only constitutional protections but also federal and state laws designed to protect consumers and ensure fairness in financial marketplaces.

Key Findings

Key Recommendations

Advocates and policymakers can work to address these abuses by:

Originally published here by nclc.org.

 

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