Housing a prisoner in California costs more than a year at Harvard
Think about that for a second...$75K&#x2F;yr for abhorrent, yet improving conditions and you&#x27;ll come to the correct conclusion that contractors are absolutely fleecing not only  the p̶r̶i̶s̶o̶n̶s̶ tax payers, but the prisoners themselves.<p>Half a lifetime ago, I had to spend a weekend in jail while visiting a friend in California  (accused of theft by a drunk lady who couldn&#x27;t find her credit cards and fingered me instead of realizing that she may have left it at the bar. The best part was when I had to fly back out for a court date, they told me they were dropping the charge for an obvious lack of evidence. This decision was made on the actual court date, so I got to waste even more money on airfare and travel ). I was surprised at the entrepreneurial zeal of those who have no issue profiting from misery and suffering. In the LA area at least, many former&#x2F;older celebrities are investors or owners of prison supply companies. Most notable was Bob Barker&#x27;s company which sold travel-sized generic toothpaste for $7. In this case, the price is wrong, Bob.<p>The fingerprinting machine was the size of a ultra-deluxe 70&#x27;s Xerox 
 machine, regularly needed service, and looked like it had a sticker price around 5 figures (a feature that is just an add-on to $500 phones.) I think that 10x-20x inflation is pretty consistent across the board in the American penal system. The collect calling system is also beyond ridiculous given the near zero cost of landline telecommunications and that most cell phones can&#x27;t receive collect calls. The food you&#x27;re eating is the absolute worst (in terms of taste of course) nutritionally. Nearly everything is processed and is done so in the cheapest way possible. When I say as cheap as possible, I mean that the $.49 Nissin Ramen is an actual delicacy (No exaggeration. Some of the inmates would pool their resources together and &quot;cook&quot; the ramen in a giant plastic bag with hot water that surely must be leeching pcb&#x27;s and&#x2F;or phthalates from the container.) After a few months of that diet, even the most physically fit people developed a weird type of gut and loss of musculature.
I didn&#x27;t eat anything while there, but I observed that the only nutritional guideline that could possibly be met that of 2K+ calories&#x2F;day. I know it&#x27;s not Club Med, but that type of diet is a blocker for any type of rehabilitation. It was depressing to look at and had the effect of making one more docile and depressed.<p>So while California may spend $75K per prisoner, the value they spend is probably closer to $7K. It&#x27;s kind of brilliant in a sadistic way, as if the prisons, their programs, food, and environment were designed to maximize recidivism.<p>Now that I think about it,  I wouldn&#x27;t be surprised if some elements were designed in this way