Stocks in private prisons jump on expectation of increased demand for incarceration...

[PeaceWave]

"The stock prices of the country’s two largest publicly traded companies that own and manage prisons and immigrant detention centers soared immediately following Donald Trump’s election as president. Shares in GEO Group and CoreCivic rose again the day after the president-elect announced Tom Homan, who managed immigration enforcement during Trump’s first administration, as his 'border czar.'”

https://www.brennancenter.org/our-work/analysis-opinion/what-trumps-victory-means-private-prison-industry

Not sufficiently disturbed by the monetization of immigrant imprisonment? Consider the prospect of debtor imprisonment for those who cannot pay fines or even loans owed to the government. Debtors' prisons were outlawed by Congress in 1833. Now, almost 200 years later, the Supreme Court has ruled that imprisonment for unpaid fines tied to homeless is not in violation of the Eighth Amendment's prohibition on cruel and unusual punishment.

https://www.scotusblog.com/2024/04/supreme-court-to-hear-case-on-criminal-penalties-for-homelessness/

https://www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/23pdf/23-175_19m2.pdf

But, it gets worse. There are rumblings in dark corners of the internet and real world efforts in various GOP dominated parts of the country to reinstate debtor's prisons for those who fail to pay any kind of debt owed to the government.

https://reason.com/2024/09/27/justice-department-says-a-small-mississippi-town-ran-a-dickensian-debtors-prison/

This, in a climate where approximately 5.6 million former students are currently in default on their student loans. To which this humble observer offers a prayer from Luke 23:34 for anyone with any kind of government backed student loan who either voted for Donald Trump or abstained voting altogether..."Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do."