Professor John Pfaff shared his expert opinion with TIME on President Biden’s executive order to not renew government contracts with private prisons.
Still, Pfaff says he hopes the order does not give the false impression that the issue of profiteering off the criminal justice system is so easily remedied. “Saying we’re taking the profit out of prisons by shutting down the private facilities ignores the massive amount of [financial incentives]on the public side,” he argues.
At the state level, over two thirds of the roughly $43 billion spent on corrections each year goes to to personnel costs, such as salaries, overtime and benefits, a 2015 Vera Institute report found. “That is very much a form of profit that encourages [legislators]to lobby aggressively to keep their prisons open,” Pfaff says.
“When you engage in a symbolic act, which [this order]mostly is,” Pfaff continues, “you have to make sure the symbolism doesn’t actually undermine the broader message that you need to convey.”
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