One undeniable fact can’t be avoided. Lots more people than in the past have been arrested in the United States in recent years.

On December 31, 2006 —

– 2,258,983 prisoners were held in Federal or State prisons or in local jails – an increase of 2.9% from yearend 2005, less than the average annual growth of 3.4% since yearend 1995.
– 1,502,179 sentenced prisoners were under State or Federal jurisdiction.
– there were an estimated 501 sentenced prisoners per 100,000 U.S. residents – up from 411 at yearend 1995.
– the number of women under the jurisdiction of State or Federal prison authorities increased 4.5% from yearend 2005, reaching 112,498, and the number of men rose 2.7%, totaling 1,458,363.

At year end 2006 there were 3,042 black male sentenced prisoners per 100,000 black males in the United States, compared to 1,261 Hispanic male sentenced prisoners per 100,000 Hispanic males and 487 white male sentenced prisoners per 100,000 white males.

The stats are just as dreary as one might have thought they’d be. Millions of people are in prison, they aren’t all violent offenders, and a disproportionate amount of the imprisoned are minorities.

Couple the rising prisoner totals with the constant charges of corruption, mis-treatment of prisoners, and general ethical malaise of the prison system, and you have one of the most serious problems facing our nation. When our country attempts to imply moral authority on the subject of human rights, a pattern of unfair treatment of prisoners always undermine credibility by illustrating hypocrisy.

As a fair minded people, we need to enter a debate on the public policy concerning many of our most vulnerable citizens. When we no longer think people can be rehabilitated, we’ve given up on one of the basic beliefs that used to be sacred to us as a people. As a result, we become more coarse and cynical.

CCA’s (NYSE: CXW) new 1,072-bed Nevada Southern Detention Center is expected to house about 1,000 federal inmates and detainees from the United States Marshals Service as well as potential populations from U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and the Federal Bureau of Prisons.

The new prison is located about 65 miles outside of Las Vegas.

The story goes on to tell us that Corrections Corp. of America operates 65 “facilities” that have a total capacity of 78,500 “beds”. This is a publicly traded company that is building more capacity for “beds” in anticipation of even larger numbers of prisoners in coming years.

As the largest operator of such facilities, CXW has amassed a market cap of $3.2 billion. That fact right there is enough to give me pause for thought. Keeping prisoners is an increasingly profitable business and growing employer, without many of the traditional problems of contemporary businesses. The “customers” are literally captive, and the the ways by which these companies are judged do not reward them for compassion.

Before CXW builds this prison in Nevada, they have been basically guaranteed a profit. The government has guaranteed CXW that at least 750 of their new beds will be filled.

When the government offloads the responsibility of caring for prisoners to private companies, it gives the appearance that they aren’t concerned with prisoner welfare, but are more interested in cost savings. Trouble is, the jury is still out when it comes to how substantial these cost savings really are.

Continued: More Prisons Being Built – Continued