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RedditIs there something inherently wrong with entrusting a private company to run a prison? Might this even be unconstitutional? As far as I'm aware, no court in Europe or the United States has entertained this question. When and if one does, there will now be a precedent to cite: a potentially historic 8-1 ruling just handed down by the Supreme Court in Israel that overturned a 2004 Knesset amendment permitting the establishment of such prisons.
In an opinion rightly hailed as a "bombshell" in Haaretz, Israeli Supreme Court President Dorit Benisch did not deny that privatizing prisons might potentially save money. She simply determined that incarceration infringes on such fundamental liberties that only the state should carry out this function, not least since the alternative is to turn prisoners into a means of extracting profit. "Economic efficiency is not a supreme value, when we are dealing with basic and important rights for which the state has responsibility," ruled Benisch.
The ruling is not without its ironies, among them the fact that Israel doesn't actually have a written constitution, only a set of Basic Laws that are supposed to serve as a guideline for legal rulings. There is also the fact that, as Yonatan Preminger noted in this fine article in the magazine Challenge a year ago, the conditions in Israel's state-run prisons have often been abysmal, with prisoners and security detainees (mainly Palestinians) crowded into cramped, squalid cells bereft of adequate beds and toilet facilities.
But the proper way to improve conditions in squalid prisons is to expose the shortcomings and demand that the state address them, not to contract out responsibility to for-profit companies that will then be responsible for authorizing whether adequate bedding might hurt the bottom-line. For several decades, the ideologues (and special interests) singing the virtues of privatization have gone largely unchallenged. It's about time this changed, and that the terms of debate shift from what is efficient to what is right and permissible.
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big deal.the zionist supreme court allows the torture of 1000,s of palestinian prisoners which are held in horrible condition and Eyal press is hailing the ruling by these gangsters.
Posted by excalibur999 at 11/23/2009 @ 10:14am
Is this `issue' in Israel worthy of a national publication or is it more suited to a personal blog?
The fact that this ruling does NOT really reflect Israeli law (or a non-existent Constitution) but DOES reflect the Israeli version of what we all love (not), judicial activism, is really the main take-away; not whether privatization should or should not be permitted.
Posted by Happy at 11/23/2009 @ 10:14am
read jonathan cook,s article in counterpunch.org today and see how zionist racism and espionage has spread to airports around the world.even in south africa the blacks are being racially profiled by these mother fucker racists.who gives a shit about privatization in jude zion-apartheid land.
Posted by excalibur999 at 11/23/2009 @ 10:41am
It's hysterical to lionize some sort of court decision in Israel about prison privatization. Israel engages in horrifying violent war crimes against civilian populations. Israel runs assassination programs. Israel occupies land it never had any right to, in naked defiance of UN resolution after UN resolution. Israel demands that nearby nations with nuclear power programs be stopped, due to threat of atomic bombs emerging, while Israel maintains an officially secret arsenal of (apparently hundreds of nuclear weapons). Within Israel, racism flourishes. Israel's foreign minister is the chief of what is objectively Israel's fascist party. As Press points out, conditions in Israeli prisons are famously horrible, and, as Press fails to point out, Israel commits acts of torture against prisoners and furthermore detains at will without charges political and other prisoners, famously, in great numbers.
And we're supposed to be impressed about a prison privatization ruling?
Posted by syfriendly at 11/23/2009 @ 10:50am
Well, Mr Press, you said the secret word "Israel"...you earn yourself a hyper-long thread and likely 20 competing posts from Shingo and rightwingnutcase....
as well as the Usual Suspects of "Israel-Right or Wrong" types (antisoc) and "Israel is Nazi Germany" types (see excalibur above).
BTW, if you ever want some fun ask the hard-core Israel fans on the Right about Israel's "socialist" economy or gays in the military when it comes to the IDF.
heheh
Posted by Mask at 11/23/2009 @ 11:32am
Interesting article, considering that Israel runs the largest Prison/Ghetto on the planet. The Israeli siege of Gaza by land, sea and air is depriving 2 million Palestinians of basic necessities, such us food, medicine and clean drinking water. Gaza has been transformed by Israel into a large prison with broken septic tank, where Gazans are drowned by their own raw sewage.
Palestinians have stopped firing rockets at southern Israel for over a year now, nevertheless, the inhumane siege and starvation by Israel continue. The silence of the Israeli Supreme Court on the mistreatment of the Palestinians in Gaza, and the other eleven thousand detained Palestinians in the West Bank, raises several questions. One of them is whether the Israeli law was founded to administer justice for Jews only. This discriminatory Israeli law against non Jews is not without historic precedents. The judicial system in white South Africa was totally blind to black grievances. In Nazi Germany, Jewish persecution was completely ignored by the Nazi Court.
The question is whether genocide can be privatized
Posted by CripThink at 11/23/2009 @ 11:45am
"big deal.the zionist supreme court allows the torture of 1000,s of palestinian prisoners which are held in horrible condition and Eyal press is hailing the ruling by these gangsters."
Posted by excalibur999 at 11/23/2009 @ 10:14am
If they were really gangsters, would they have ever even considered ruling in this fashion?
"Palestinians have stopped firing rockets at southern Israel for over a year now, nevertheless, the inhumane siege and starvation by Israel continue."
Posted by CripThink at 11/23/2009 @ 11:45am
Yep, but imagine how well off they'd be right now if they'd never fired a single rocket to begin with? If memory serves, the rocket attacks began 3 or 4 days after Israel pulled out of Gaza and created the first de facto Palestinian state.
That they did suggests they wanted an Israeli reaction. A retaliation. Those rockets were never going to destroy Israel or even force concilliations. The rockets were intended to provoke a military response that would provide favorable international "victim" media coverage and a chance to inflict casualties on the IDF. Based on the preparations uncovered by the IDF, Hamas clearly wanted to provoke the IDF into a urban fight that would produce heavy casualties.
But Hamas got caught by suprise thanks to some effective camoflage and ruses, particulary by Israeli commercial radio stations. Hamas went on alert, the radio stations reported the IDF wasn't mobilizing, Hamas stood down, the IDF pounced. I think the Israeli Air Force caught an entire graduating class of the Hamas officer corp on their parade ground, eliminating most of them and the high ranking guests and speakers.
Hamas got what it wanted, but not when it was ready for it.
Posted by Citizen_Carrier at 11/23/2009 @ 12:27pm
"big deal.the zionist supreme court allows the torture of 1000,s of palestinian prisoners which are held in horrible condition and Eyal press is hailing the ruling by these gangsters."
Posted by excalibur999 at 11/23/2009 @ 10:14am
If they were really gangsters, would they have ever even considered ruling in this fashion?
"Palestinians have stopped firing rockets at southern Israel for over a year now, nevertheless, the inhumane siege and starvation by Israel continue."
Posted by CripThink at 11/23/2009 @ 11:45am
Yep, but imagine how well off they'd be right now if they'd never fired a single rocket to begin with? If memory serves, the rocket attacks began 3 or 4 days after Israel pulled out of Gaza and created the first de facto Palestinian state.
That they did suggests they wanted an Israeli reaction. A retaliation. Those rockets were never going to destroy Israel or even force concilliations. The rockets were intended to provoke a military response that would provide favorable international "victim" media coverage and a chance to inflict casualties on the IDF. Based on the preparations uncovered by the IDF, Hamas clearly wanted to provoke the IDF into a urban fight that would produce heavy casualties.
But Hamas got caught by suprise thanks to some effective camoflage and ruses, particulary by Israeli commercial radio stations. Hamas went on alert, the radio stations reported the IDF wasn't mobilizing, Hamas stood down, the IDF pounced. I think the Israeli Air Force caught an entire graduating class of the Hamas officer corp on their parade ground, eliminating most of them and the high ranking guests and speakers.
Hamas got what it wanted, but not when it was ready for it.
Posted by Citizen_Carrier at 11/23/2009 @ 12:27pm
Hamas got what it wanted, but not when it was ready for it.
Posted by Citizen_Carrier at 11/23/2009 @ 12:27pm
Citizen_Carrier,
The Israelis claim that they have left Gaza since 2005, but what they don't tell you is that they have been continuously controlling Gaza's airspace, all territorial water, and all border crossings. In addition, the Israelis retained a large chunk of land around the entire perimeter of the Gaza strip and claimed it as security zone. This so-called security zone varies from few hundred yards to one mile wide and runs around the entire Gaza/Israel border. This is considerable, since the Gaza Strip is less than 139 square miles in size with near 2 million inhabitants, which makes it the most densely populated piece of land on earth. Israel maintained this inhumane siege on Gaza since its departure in 2005.
It is obvious that you, like most Americans, have been afflicted with Zionist Media brain-wash disease as you repeat the same Zionist cliché of Israel being victim of Hamas. It is not true that Hamas fired rockets at Israel few days after the Israelis left Gaza. Hamas had exhausted every peaceful mean to convince the Israelis to lift their siege on Gaza and stop the assassination of Hamas leaders.
The Internet is replete with objective reports that confirm the above facts; however, it is obvious that your sole references on this matter are CNN, Fox News and the rest of the Zionist media outlets.
Posted by CripThink at 11/23/2009 @ 1:50pm
If you are against Zionism, you are an anti-Semitic neo-Nazi.
Posted by rightwingnutcase at 11/23/2009 @ 3:18pm
"If you are against Zionism, you are an anti-Semitic neo-Nazi."----Posted by rightwingnutcase at 11/23/2009 @ 3:18pm
Emerging from his undisclosed location, I see.
Posted by Mask at 11/23/2009 @ 3:28pm
But the proper way to improve conditions in squalid prisons is to expose the shortcomings and demand that the state address them, not to contract out responsibility to for-profit companies that will then be responsible for authorizing whether adequate bedding might hurt the bottom-line. For several decades, the ideologues (and special interests) singing the virtues of privatization have gone largely unchallenged. It's about time this changed, and that the terms of debate shift from what is efficient to what is right and permissible.
i like these words.shortcomings,adequate bedding.and how about the issue of 1000,s of prisoners among them hundreds of kids mr press?ever thought that your racist jewish paradise is practicing such a horrendous acts against the children of palestine?this is really sick and nauseating and i can not believe that the nation allow itself to become a filthy mouthpiece for jewish chauvinism and a tool to justify the imprisonment of thousands innocent human beings whose guilt is to resist occupation and racism.
Posted by excalibur999 at 11/23/2009 @ 3:56pm
this is really sick and nauseating and i can not believe that the nation allow itself to become a filthy mouthpiece for jewish chauvinism and a tool to justify the imprisonment of thousands innocent human beings whose guilt is to resist occupation and racism.
Posted by excalibur999 at 11/23/2009 @ 3:56pm | ignore this person | warn this person
Just wait till they start "enforcing" the Anti-Zionism Act of 2004 - an act that creats a "special" department within the State Department that for all intents and purposes is Big Brother ADL (paid for by US taxpayers, whom this department will largely will monitor and 'watch over').
This is nauseating. Check this out from the US State Department no less....
'The demonization of Israel, or vilification of Israeli leaders, sometimes through comparisons with Nazi leaders, and through the use of Nazi symbols to caricature them, indicates an anti-Semitic bias rather than a valid criticism of policy concerning a controversial issue.'
http://www.state.gov/g/drl/rls/40258.htm
and note official pronouncements from the State Department.....
State Department: Anti-Zionism is the New Anti-Semitism Thursday, March 13, 2008 Associated Press
As of November 11, 2009, Obama is expected to appoint Hannah Rosenthal (from Chicago of course) to replace Dr. Gregg Rickman, who served as thought police "envoy" under the Bush administration.
You have just got to wonder what the hell is going on in our government. Why not a special department for blacks or Catholics, etc.??
What next?
Posted by OneVote at 11/23/2009 @ 4:26pm
This is essentially a foreign affairs and labor piece, not one on the Israeli/Palestinian conflict. Does this court ruling signigicantly impact Israeli/Palestinian relations or the detention of Palestinians by Israel? No, but Press (Mr. or Ms.?) never said that it did while pointing out that it doesn't change the inhumane conditions in Israel's prisons, but it might have an impact beyond Israel's own borders; hence the interest of non-Israeli readers, especially the millions of unionized public sector employees who have been and are being sacrificed on the alter of privatization, such as in Puerto Rico.
You know, some of us can actually be concerned about more than one issue at a time and express said thoughts without turning into bigots who have to spew either anti-Palestinian or anti-Jewish filth, or lies about our political opponents. There are more than a few people here who might try doing the same.
Posted by cka2nd at 11/23/2009 @ 4:37pm
Posted by cka2nd at 11/23/2009 @ 4:37pm | ignore this person | warn this person
'She simply determined that incarceration infringes on such fundamental liberties that only the state should carry out this function, not least since the alternative is to turn prisoners into a means of extracting profit. "Economic efficiency is not a supreme value, when we are dealing with basic and important rights for which the state has responsibility," ruled Benisch.'
Haaretz........................
Really...this is an article about labor?
No....this is an article of human rights, and hypocrisy.
Posted by OneVote at 11/23/2009 @ 4:57pm
Posted by excalibur999 at 11/23/2009 @ 3:56pm
Really? You're shocked? The Nation is controlled by the filthy Jews dude. It's a CP rag. Who controlled the American CP excal? The goddamned Jews that's who.
Come over to Stormfront.org buddy, we've been waiting for you.
Posted by gangpapist at 11/23/2009 @ 5:42pm
Forget Israel and for sure forget the so called palestinians! The Obamanation and Demoncrats have put in no position to care!
A page one, top-of-the-fold New York Times report Monday warns that U.S. debt is rising so fast that the federal government is careening toward a "payment shock" in the not-too-distant future.
The Times lead headline read: "Federal Government Faces Balloon in Debt Payments: At $700 Billion a Year, Cost Will Top Budgets for 2 Wars, Education, Energy."
The Times headline appears eerie just as the Senate moves to push forward on a radical healthcare reform -- with CBO estimates for a final bill costing nearly $1 trillion dollars over the next year.
The national debt now stands at over $12 trillion and the White House estimates that the cost of servicing the debt will rise to more than $700 billion a year in 2019, up from $202 billion this year. The Times suggests that $700 billion annual payment cost may be conservative.
The additional $500 billion a year in interest payments would surpass the combined budgets this year for education, energy, homeland security, plus the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, the Times observes.
Treasury officials face not only huge new debts incurred in response to the economic meltdown but a balloon of short-term borrowings coming due in the months ahead, and interest rates that are certain to return to normal levels when the Federal Reserve concludes that the fiscal emergency has passed.
"Even as Treasury officials are racing to lock in today's low rates by exchanging short-term borrowings for long-term bonds, the government faces a payment shock similar to those that sent legions of overstretched homeowners into default on their mortgages," The Times reported on Monday.
Posted by BigPasture at 11/23/2009 @ 6:41pm
Locking people up should cost money, not make money. Why would any sane person think otherwise?
Posted by mtspence05 at 11/23/2009 @ 7:32pm
Locking people up should cost money, not make money. Why would any sane person think otherwise? Posted by mtspence05 at 11/23/2009 @ 7:32pm
Remember that youth court judge in PA that was paid off to commit teens to detention in a "privately owned" facility and to hell with what the social service people recommended? When money talks, sanity is irrelevant imho. But you're right.
Posted by A_Pax_On_Your_Houses at 11/23/2009 @ 9:16pm
Come over to Stormfront.org buddy, we've been waiting for you.
Posted by gangpapist at 11/23/2009 @ 5:42pm | ignore this person | warn this person
Wow! I looked at it, but I think they are too "restrained" in their racism for the leftwingnut extremist bloggers.
Posted by BigPasture at 11/24/2009 @ 02:02am
Stormfront.org?
A collection of bizarre people who are just the opposite side of the same coin that the most strident leftists here inhabit.
Posted by Citizen_Carrier at 11/24/2009 @ 07:39am
Stormfront.org?
A collection of bizarre people who are just the opposite side of the same coin that the most strident leftists here inhabit.
Posted by Citizen_Carrier at 11/24/2009 @ 07:39am
Hey, Citizen...want to see a "collection of bizarre people"???
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mKKKgua7wQk
Posted by Mask at 11/24/2009 @ 07:45am
It is at least awkward if not bizarre to engage in a debate about private for profit prisons under the context of Israel. Israel is known for it's inhuman squalid prisons. And the U.S. is known for it's incarceration of more of it's population than any other country.
It is a worthy debate to have on it's own merit, but when you use Israel as an example of a country that's supreme court is questioning the use of private prisons and their possible violation of human rights it gets really weird. Israel is not exactly a paragon of human rights in the first place..
Posted by chaoszen at 11/24/2009 @ 08:03am
Hey, Citizen...want to see a "collection of bizarre people"???
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mKKKgua7wQk
Posted by Mask at 11/24/2009 @ 07:45am
Shall we play dueling youtubes?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YfGLB8LO1aM
Your side has them too, you know. We just aren't allowed to talk about your "rednecks" the way it is acceptable to talk about ours.
If I'm going to be held responsible for everyone on my side, you should do the same for yours.
Posted by Citizen_Carrier at 11/24/2009 @ 08:21am
Hey, Citizen...want to see a "collection of bizarre people"???
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mKKKgua7wQk
Posted by Mask at 11/24/2009 @ 07:45am
Shall we play dueling youtubes?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YfGLB8LO1aM
Your side has them too, you know. We just aren't allowed to talk about your "rednecks" the way it is acceptable to talk about ours.
If I'm going to be held responsible for everyone on my side, you should do the same for yours.
Posted by Citizen_Carrier at 11/24/2009 @ 08:21am
CripThink says:
".......Palestinians have stopped firing rockets at southern Israel for over a year now, ... Posted by CripThink at 11/23/2009 @ 11:45am ...."
The facts are:
".........Rockets fired from Gaza into Israel: military (AFP) – 19 hours ago
JERUSALEM -- Two rockets were fired from the Islamist Hamas-run Gaza Strip into southern Israel on Monday, without causing casualties or damage, an Israeli military spokesman told AFP.
The attack came the day after Hamas's armed wing announced that militant groups in its Gaza stronghold had finalised a deal to stop firing rockets into the Jewish state. Islamic Jihad denied signing up to the deal.
On Saturday, a rocket was fired into Israel from Gaza, again hitting without causing casualties or damage, and hours later Israeli forces responded with three air raids that wounded eight Palestinians.
Monday's attack was the latest violence along Gaza's border, which has been mostly quiet since a war Israel launched against Hamas in Gaza on December 27 in response to rocket fire. It ended with reciprocal ceasefires on January 18.
The ceasefires have largely held despite violations by both sides. However, the Israeli military says that more than 270 rockets or mortar rounds have been fired at Israel in the past 10 months.
Copyright © 2009 AFP....."
http://www.google.com/hostednews/ afp/article/ ALeqM5jACrEcAz9W98qrmIn2hwFXZE-iIg
Posted by sjchermak at 11/24/2009 @ 08:51am
Hmm, funny how the press hasn't reported on the 270 or so rockets and mortars fired at Israeli noncombatants for the last 10 months, isn't it?
Thanks to that kind of coverage, guys like Cripthink might get the false impression Hamas has stopped acting like terrorists.
Again, what is the purpose of these rocket and mortar attacks.
Well, they cannot "destroy" Israel. And Israelis, being Western people, can only be pushed for so far and so long before they respond overwhelmingly.
So what is the purpose of the rocket and mortar attacks?
One, I think it satisfies an Arab cultural need to save face.
Two, it is designed to provoke a response. After all these years the Arabs have to know this sort of stuff doesn't bring Israel to the discussion table. It provokes a strong response.
Therefore, the goal of the attacks must have been to provoke a response. They got a response, but one they were tricked into not being mobilized and ready for.
Maybe they should try some of that Ghandi stuff?
Posted by Citizen_Carrier at 11/24/2009 @ 09:10am
Posted by Citizen_Carrier at 11/24/2009 @ 08:21am
I'd figure Palin would attract the best and the brightest though, CC?
You mean she's just another politician?
BTW, did you see any racial slurs in the Comments on the video of the Palin book signing...as were in YOUR video?
Posted by Mask at 11/24/2009 @ 11:07am
Posted by syfriendly at 11/23/2009 @ 10:50am | ignore this person | warn this person
An addict always returns to his poison. In your case it's raging, raving anti-Israel. Welcome back.
Posted by gren at 11/24/2009 @ 3:39pm
Mask is a gnat. He contributes nothing.
Posted by gangpapist at 11/24/2009 @ 4:08pm
gangpapist
i checked out your favourite site storm front.it has the same ideas as the israel beitune of your mentor avigdor liebeman.yes the white trash land thief from moldova.
Posted by excalibur999 at 11/24/2009 @ 5:15pm
Mask is a gnat. He contributes nothing.
Posted by gangpapist at 11/24/2009 @ 4:08pm
But just as I'm Capitalist No. 1 here, MASK serves as the AGW Believer No. 1....consider the spectrum between us!
Read something today rather shocking......all the gold that has ever been mined, don't even fill two Olympic-sized pools......bit of a mind twister...
Among other news today, it's leaked that Magic plans to serve up his ultra-long-delayed Afghan Turkey on Monday or Tuesday....
And please tune in tonight to watch the final, and 4th, episode of O (misprinted as V in the promos)....
Posted by Happy at 11/24/2009 @ 5:41pm
Well, they cannot "destroy" Israel. And Israelis, being Western people, can only be pushed for so far ... Maybe they should try some of that Ghandi stuff?
Posted by Citizen_Carrier at 11/24/2009 @ 09:10am
Hey Carrier,
Dov Weisglass, an adviser to Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, was quoted shortly before the swearing in of the new Hamas government as saying, "It's like a meeting with a dietitian. We need to make the Palestinians lose weight, but not to starve to death."
Rabbi Manis Friedman went further when he decreed that "Jews should kill Arab men, women and children during war"
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/ 1091469.html
The above describes the Israeli criminals whom you claim that they are Western People. Just imagine the Anti-Semitism cries had someone advocated imposing an all out siege to starve Jews and make them lose weight.
This Israeli criminality was manifested during the Gaza invasion through the war crimes committed by Israeli soldiers against unarmed civilians (read Judge Goldstone Report).
According to the Israeli paper Haaretz, Hamas had declared an end to firing rockets at Israel and is trying to convince small Palestinian groups to do the same. It is Israel that refuses to halt the air bombardment of Gaza and to lift the inhumane siege.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/ 1129746.html
Had the British used F-16 fighter jets and white phosphorus against Indians, as the Israeli did to Palestinians, the world would have never heard of Ghandi.
The shortest way to stop Israel is when a deceived turkey like you refrains from sending his tax dollars to Israel, unless it ends the genocide against the Palestinians. It is, however, doubtful that a brain-washed turkey like you got what it takes to do so.
Posted by CripThink at 11/25/2009 @ 09:17am
Posted by Happy at 11/24/2009 @ 5:41pm
Happy, what is the REPUBLICAN Party's position on AGW?
And how is mine different???
Posted by Mask at 11/25/2009 @ 11:21am
This ruling will prevent further suffering in the Mid-East. Good work supreme court.
Posted by jfair at 11/25/2009 @ 11:44am
It is estimated, there are over 7000 Palestinians in the Israeli jails. They want more jails in future.
Posted by Dastu11 at 11/29/2009 @ 07:25am