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Territories:
Worldwide.
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Production year:
2017
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Language(s):
German, French
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Rights:
TV, DVD, NON-THEATRICAL, INTERNET, VOD
Louisiana holds the world record for rate of incarceration – 10 times higher than in Germany, and three times higher than Iran.
This unenviable record is due to a particularity of the southern state: In Louisiana, the majority of prisons are privatized and run by sheriffs. They earn $24 per prisoner, per day, so if the number of inmates falls, the revenue goes down with it. These “parish prisons”, as they are known, are engaged in a race to snap up prisoners, who are now seen as business opportunities.
Conditions in these jails are deplorable: Up to 1,500 prisoners are crammed into dormitories designed for 200 people. There are fewer and fewer staff, as networks of cameras allow a single guard to monitor the behavior of large numbers of prisoners for even greater profitability.