ABSTRACT
By the 1980s and 1990s, analogies were being drawn between the military-industrial complex and a burgeoning prison-industrial complex (PIC). The growth of the PIC had origins in the conservative reaction to the events of the 1960s, which inspired a “tough on crime, law and order” approach to winning political campaigns. In this context, states passed mandatory minimum laws and moved to abolish or limit parole. This set the stage for a dramatic growth in the prison population by the 1980s, and a subsequent massive expansion in state-level prison construction was accompanied by privatization promoted during the Reagan era. Two companies have emblemized the private prison and detention industries: Corrections Corporation of America (CCA) and GEO Group. The CCA case is most instructive because its founders’ personal backgrounds highlight their deep public-private connections and involvements, along with their efforts to shape government policy. The two companies have also benefited from the post-9/11 increase in the need for immigrant detention centers and a recent wave of anti-immigrant policies. It concludes by highlighting how so many Americans depend for their livelihood upon a wider, massive industrial complex that may just represent a form of criminal justice Keynesianism.
