[DRAFT] Reducing Recidivism Rates In Private Prisons

[Foril]

Category: Social Justice
Strength: Mild

The World Assembly,

DEEPLY CONCERNED with the detrimental effects typically associated with private entities owning or operating prisons due to monetary motivations to encourage recidivism,

NOTING that private prisons exist in many World Assembly nations, and

SEEKING to enact measures encouraging the lowering of recidivism rates,

Hereby enacts the following:

1. "Prison" in this resolution shall be defined as a facility in which people are confined on remand or as a punishment for a crime they have committed. Home detention and probation are not included in this definition.
2. A "private entity" in this resolution shall be defined as a company or entity that is partly or wholly owned by private citizens.
3. “Private prison” in this resolution shall be defined as a prison owned in part or wholly by a private entity.
4. Member states must ensure that any entity paying for a private prison must have a graded system whereby the prison's private owners receive from that entity a significantly higher income than the national average the lower from national average the prison's recidivism rate is, and vice versa.
5. Member states must establish a fixed “recidivism rate value”, ideally the average national recidivism rate over the past five years. Should a private prison's annual recidivism rate surpass this value, member states must withdraw any funding or subsidies granted to that prison and cease further funding or subsidies to the prison until the annual recidivism rate falls below this value.




Co-authored by Isaris, Bowzin, and Maowi

[Grays Harbor]

First, there are at least 5 other resolutions which outline prisoners rights

Second, what are your reasons for outlawing private prisons.

[Foril]

First, there are at least 5 other resolutions which outline prisoners rights

Second, what are your reasons for outlawing private prisons.

1. Private prisons make profit, which means that there would be no incentive for the prison company to assist prisoners on re-habilitation, since they would make more money if more people commit crimes.

2. Private entities are also not held accountable by the public, which means that there is less checks on right abuses.

3. Private entities are also incentivised to drive down costs, which could lead to sub-par accommodations in prisons.

[Imperium Anglorum]

Why can't all of those identified issues be solved with a strong enough regulatory regime?

[Foril]

Why can't all of those identified issues be solved with a strong enough regulatory regime?

There is still the one fundamental problem: Private prisons are incentivised to discourage rehabilitation. That is the one thing no regulatory regime could solve: it is basic economics.

[Grays Harbor]

First, there are at least 5 other resolutions which outline prisoners rights

Second, what are your reasons for outlawing private prisons.

1. Private prisons make profit, which means that there would be no incentive for the prison company to assist prisoners on re-habilitation, since they would make more money if more people commit crimes.
This is a fallacy with no supportive evidence.

2. Private entities are also not held accountable by the public, which means that there is less checks on right abuses.
If they are contracted by a government, then there is oversight, the same as any other contractor. So, that is just a straw man argument

3. Private entities are also incentivised to drive down costs, which could lead to sub-par accommodations in prisons.
Again, evidence? Or is this just more supposition on your part.

[Imperium Anglorum]

Why can't all of those identified issues be solved with a strong enough regulatory regime?

There is still the one fundamental problem: Private prisons are incentivised to discourage rehabilitation. That is the one thing no regulatory regime could solve: it is basic economics.

So make a contract that penalises them for recidivism.

[Christian Democrats]

If you're going to write a replacement for my repealed resolution, surely you can come up with an original title.

[Foril]

If you're going to write a replacement for my repealed resolution, surely you can come up with an original title.

I’m quite sorry, I was submitting it under this title in the Europeian forums. I’ll change it immediately

[Foril]

1. Private prisons make profit, which means that there would be no incentive for the prison company to assist prisoners on re-habilitation, since they would make more money if more people commit crimes.
This is a fallacy with no supportive evidence.

2. Private entities are also not held accountable by the public, which means that there is less checks on right abuses.
If they are contracted by a government, then there is oversight, the same as any other contractor. So, that is just a straw man argument

3. Private entities are also incentivised to drive down costs, which could lead to sub-par accommodations in prisons.
Again, evidence? Or is this just more supposition on your part.

1. That is not a fallacy. That is basic economics. A quick thought experiment: If there were less prisoners, there would be less profit for the private prisons. Therefore, prisons would be disincentivized to encourage rehabilitation.

2. I agree that that point could be refuted by better governmental regulation.

3. Think of it: lower costs -> higher profits. How do we get lower costs? We eventually start cutting corners, which would lead to worse accommodations.

[Imperium Anglorum]

The profit-maximising way to build a roadway is not to build it at all; should we ban all government contracts?

[Foril]

The profit-maximising way to build a roadway is not to build it at all; should we ban all government contracts?

Roads and prisoners are fundamentally different. Prisoners are humans: therefore they have their own mind and conscience and can be indifferent to any rehabilitation attempt. Therefore, it could be not the prison’s fault that rehabilitation doesn’t occur. Other things can be subject to governmental scrutinisation.

[Foril]

There is still the one fundamental problem: Private prisons are incentivised to discourage rehabilitation. That is the one thing no regulatory regime could solve: it is basic economics.

So make a contract that penalises them for recidivism.

Again, humans have their own minds. If they are immune to any rehabilitation effort, then the prison really can’t do much. Are we punishing private prisons for things that they ultimately cannot fully control?

[Grays Harbor]

1. That is not a fallacy. That is basic economics. A quick thought experiment: If there were less prisoners, there would be less profit for the private prisons. Therefore, prisons would be disincentivized to encourage rehabilitation.
You miss the mark again. You seem to assume that only the initial group of prisoners are what a prison ever has. No other crime is ever committed. There have been centuries of government run institutions to “rehabilitate” criminals, yet crimes continue to be committed. And your “incentive to not rehabilitate” argument is still incorrect.
2. I agree that that point could be refuted by better governmental regulation.

3. Think of it: lower costs -> higher profits. How do we get lower costs? We eventually start cutting corners, which would lead to worse accommodations.

[Imperium Anglorum]

The profit-maximising way to build a roadway is not to build it at all; should we ban all government contracts?

Roads and prisoners are fundamentally different. Prisoners are humans: therefore they have their own mind and conscience and can be indifferent to any rehabilitation attempt. Therefore, it could be not the prison’s fault that rehabilitation doesn’t occur. Other things can be subject to governmental scrutinisation.

If it cannot be the prison's fault that rehabilitation doesn't occur why do we care anymore? And given that an institution can be scrutinised on its efforts as well as on clear metrics, the pretence that it is somehow impossible to provide the correct incentives (thereby justifying prohibition) seems ridiculous. Your warrant—profit maximisation—proves too much; if governments have the ability to monitor outputs for quality, what makes it impossible to also monitor these outputs for quality? And if profit motive is as overwhelmingly powerful as you claim it is, why should we not prohibit all government contracts?

There has to exist some mediating factor here. And if that mediating factor is important, identify and correct based on that factor rather than the output so to properly align incentives.

[Foril]

1. That is not a fallacy. That is basic economics. A quick thought experiment: If there were less prisoners, there would be less profit for the private prisons. Therefore, prisons would be disincentivized to encourage rehabilitation.
You miss the mark again. You seem to assume that only the initial group of prisoners are what a prison ever has. No other crime is ever committed. There have been centuries of government run institutions to “rehabilitate” criminals, yet crimes continue to be committed. And your “incentive to not rehabilitate” argument is still incorrect.
2. I agree that that point could be refuted by better governmental regulation.

3. Think of it: lower costs -> higher profits. How do we get lower costs? We eventually start cutting corners, which would lead to worse accommodations.

1. Okay. Here is a thought experiment. Let’s assume a prison is currently at 50% of capacity. At this rate, they make 2% profit. Now, at this current crime rate and rehabilitation rate, the prison will fluctuate at between 48-52% capacity. However, if the rehabilitation rate increases, the prison will be at higher capacity, which because of economics (Twice as many meals does not equal twice the cost, it equals a little bit less than twice) would mean that the prison would have higher profit margins.

[Ardiveds]

So make a contract that penalises them for recidivism.

Again, humans have their own minds. If they are immune to any rehabilitation effort, then the prison really can’t do much. Are we punishing private prisons for things that they ultimately cannot fully control?

OOC: You know if a majority of the prisoners in a prison somehow are just "immune" to rehab, its either the prison's fault (especially if its private) or somehow the prison has become home to the absolute worst criminals. Mostly its the former in which case government oversight seems a fair fix.

[Foril]

Again, humans have their own minds. If they are immune to any rehabilitation effort, then the prison really can’t do much. Are we punishing private prisons for things that they ultimately cannot fully control?

OOC: You know if a majority of the prisoners in a prison somehow are just "immune" to rehab, its either the prison's fault or somehow the prison has become home to the absolute worst criminals. Mostly its the former in which case government oversight seems a fair fix.

Some prisons have little prisoners, so even a few that refuse to rehabilitate skew their numbers, which could lead to a massive amount of prisons being punished for something that they don’t fully control.

[Alraibris]

"I honestly don't know what type of problems that you have within your nations with your Prison System, but the system here in the Empire works for us, and we use Private Prisons pretty extensively for our prison population. If you are having issues within YOUR nation with private prisons, then maybe you should fix the problem yourselves instead of attempting to force other nations, with working private prison systems, to give them up." He then looks around and the assembled delegation, "I suggest we discard this idiotic proposal and move on."

[Ardiveds]

OOC: You know if a majority of the prisoners in a prison somehow are just "immune" to rehab, its either the prison's fault or somehow the prison has become home to the absolute worst criminals. Mostly its the former in which case government oversight seems a fair fix.

Some prisons have little prisoners, so even a few that refuse to rehabilitate skew their numbers, which could lead to a massive amount of prisons being punished for something that they don’t fully control.

OOC: what if prisons with smaller number of prisoners are exempted from rules concerning the required amount of rehabilitation? Surely if a prison tries to prevent rehabilitation, it's population will grow over time, eventually making it big enough to be reasonably held accountable for the rehabilitation numbers.

[Kenmoria]

Some prisons have little prisoners, so even a few that refuse to rehabilitate skew their numbers, which could lead to a massive amount of prisons being punished for something that they don’t fully control.

OOC: what if prisons with smaller number of prisoners are exempted from rules concerning the required amount of rehabilitation? Surely if a prison tries to prevent rehabilitation, it's population will grow over time, eventually making it big enough to be reasonably held accountable for the rehabilitation numbers.

(OOC: That seems incredibly unfair, since how many prisoners will be rehabilitated will depend on chance and external factors, for example how many criminals have committed which types of crimes. Regulating prisons to that extent would be best handled by national governments, which can be more aware of extenuating circumstances.)

[Foril]

"I honestly don't know what type of problems that you have within your nations with your Prison System, but the system here in the Empire works for us, and we use Private Prisons pretty extensively for our prison population. If you are having issues within YOUR nation with private prisons, then maybe you should fix the problem yourselves instead of attempting to force other nations, with working private prison systems, to give them up." He then looks around and the assembled delegation, "I suggest we discard this idiotic proposal and move on."

IC:
“It’s called the World Assembly. If it only works in your Empire, surely we can still regulate it?”

[Foril]

OOC: what if prisons with smaller number of prisoners are exempted from rules concerning the required amount of rehabilitation? Surely if a prison tries to prevent rehabilitation, it's population will grow over time, eventually making it big enough to be reasonably held accountable for the rehabilitation numbers.

(OOC: That seems incredibly unfair, since how many prisoners will be rehabilitated will depend on chance and external factors, for example how many criminals have committed which types of crimes. Regulating prisons to that extent would be best handled by national governments, which can be more aware of extenuating circumstances.)

What Kenmoria said would pretty much have been my response to Ardiveds’ question.

[Grays Harbor]

"I honestly don't know what type of problems that you have within your nations with your Prison System, but the system here in the Empire works for us, and we use Private Prisons pretty extensively for our prison population. If you are having issues within YOUR nation with private prisons, then maybe you should fix the problem yourselves instead of attempting to force other nations, with working private prison systems, to give them up." He then looks around and the assembled delegation, "I suggest we discard this idiotic proposal and move on."

IC:
“It’s called the World Assembly. If it only works in your Empire, surely we can still regulate it?”

Considering the opposition to this, I’d say the issue may well be confined to one nation ... yours. Why should the WA regulate something to fix an issue that exists solely in your country?

[Foril]

IC:
“It’s called the World Assembly. If it only works in your Empire, surely we can still regulate it?”

Considering the opposition to this, I’d say the issue may well be confined to one nation ... yours. Why should the WA regulate something to fix an issue that exists solely in your country?

Surely debating something doesn’t count as opposition yet? If they still don’t agree with me after the debate, then they are opposed to it. That is the whole point of debate!