[Popman]

You really ready for Orwell's 1984?

No, but to answer your question about turning a profit off incarceration.

If it saves me as a taxpayer, I have no problem whatsoever.

Prisons don't pass the laws or do prisons pass sentences to put people into their facilities. They are the end of the line, housing the garbage that was processed out of society.

Also, private entities have to answer to the state at some point.

Now if the court systems were privatized, you might be onto something.

[CowboyJay]

I realize I'm reaching here, but consider the trend of what begins happening when law enforcement is seen as a growth industry:

Officials Make Public Intoxication Arrests Inside Bars

[Star Traveler]

You said -- "If it saves me as a taxpayer, I have no problem whatsoever."

You'll save more by putting less in jail. Have different ways of dealing with a lot of stupid little things, other than jailing people. "Real criminals" need to be put in jail when they are a threat to people's lives. But a lot of other things don't need to be that way. There's a lot of money to be saved on prisons if you just don't jail as many people.

Regards,
Star Traveler