Abolish Private Prisons

WHEREAS, the private prison industry profits off the incarceration and labor of citizens; and

WHEREAS, private prisons consider incarcerated citizens as cash-cow stock; and

WHEREAS, private prisons exploit prison labor for pennies on the dollar; and

WHEREAS, the private prison industry outsources jobs from the public into their prisons; and

WHEREAS, statistics from the U.S. Department of Justice shows that as of 2013 there were 133,000 state and federal prisoners housed in privately owned prisons in the United States of America; and

WHEREAS, the private prison industry serves to undermine and pervert the U.S. Constitution, corrupt the Legislative and Judicial branches of our government to the point that these branches could no longer protect the citizens, thus making them vulnerable to loss of their freedom and livelihood for the sake of financial gains; and

WHEREAS, private prisons get up to 40% federally compensated wage tax breaks, shifting the cost/burdens to the citizens while making themselves a profit; and

WHEREAS, data on private prison conditions shows an increase in overall prison violence, which includes violence affecting those incarcerated and assaults against correctional officers and correctional staff.

THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED, that the NAACP work toward the abolition of private prisons.