Supplying goods and services to jails and prisons is a big business. Vendors supply goods and services to the inmates and staff of jails and prisons. These include food, clothing, blankets, furniture,...

Supplying goods and services to jails and prisons is a big business. Vendors supply goods and services to the inmates and staff of jails and prisons. These include food, clothing, blankets, furniture, gas masks, restraints, riot gear, etc. This relationship between jails and prisons and the numerous businesses that supply the needs of jails and prisons is referred to as the prison-industrial complex. The prison-industrial complex is a huge business driven by crime and imprisonment. There is a concern that businesses take advantage of the “captive” population by charging excessive fees to inmates for services such as phone calls and financial transfers. In some cases the temptation for illegal financial gains is too tempting and prison officials engage in corrupt financial transactions such as taking cash in return for multi-million dollar contracts to supply prison goods and services. Some see the prison-industrial complex as a business that is too big to fail. The prison-industrial complex supports millions and millions of persons who depend upon it for their income. As a result, some fear that achieving a decline in the prison population will be difficult because of the opposition of those who live off the prison-industrial complex. Do you agree?