Explain Like I'm Five

ding ding ding, this answer. Who the fuck thinks that because only 10% of prisoners are in explicitly for-profit prisons, that only those 10% of prisons turn a profit from people being incarcerated for bullshit reasons? They're all for profit. Who profits differs a bit from here to there, but (iirc) it's usually whoever runs the commissary. You've got a quite very literally captive market, and it keeps the poors poor to charge whatever insane prices they like for basic necessities while paying them peanuts for labor they provide while inside (or their family fronts the cost, which is also arguably one of their desired knock-on effects). I just choose to say "for-profit" because, in some countries, prisons are focused on minimizing recidivism and promoting rehabilitation, not propping up a business model.