And so it begins… Our long journey to establish the first nonprofit prison officially starts today.
The idea came as I was watching a video by Catholic apologist Trent Horn titled ‘Why Fr. Casey is Wrong about Prison‘. The video mainly rebuts the somewhat extreme claim that prison labor involves intrinsically evil slavery – but it also exposes some of the massive ethical problems with the prison system, specifically in America.
Being a supporter of privatization (the idea that corporations are generally more effective than government) I naively thought to myself “Why doesn’t someone create a privately owned prison, partnered with government, that treats prisoners humanely?”. Thus began my research into the private prison system in America.
It quickly became clear that not only do private prisons already exist and are less effective than government prisons but the system is entirely broken due to its profit incentive. If a private prison wants to succeed, it can simply overcrowd its prison cells, cut back on expenses, and put no/little effort into rehabilitation.
Once I learned that the profit incentive was the main problem, the solution became clear: a nonprofit prison. I was not surprised to find that I wasn’t the first person to think of this – but I was shocked to learn that it hasn’t been done yet!
This begs an important question: Why do nonprofit prisons not exist yet?
My answer was initially and remains as follows: I have no clue. The advantages and need for such an organization were first expressed in 1997 (possibly earlier). It’s been over 25 years and there has been zero movement towards realizing this goal. My hope is that there simply hasn’t been anyone motivated enough to get the ball rolling.
That’s exactly why I’m founding The Nonprofit Prison Initiative. Although I might not have what it takes to bring this idea all the way to the finish line, I am certainly motivated enough to get the ball rolling.
Not only is there an opportunity to defeat evil (abuse, corruption, etc), but there is an incredible opportunity to bring about good (true rehabilitation).
There is so much more to write about. If you want to follow the NPI in its mission to advocate for and establish the world’s first nonprofit profit, subscribe to our newsletter for updates.