Private prisons, or the prison industrial complex, accept money from the state and in return agree to hold prisoners. They make money by holding these prisoners for less than the allowance given to them by the state, and by forcing these prisoners to work for slave wages of less than a dollar an hour in deplorable conditions. Prisoners who will not work are often punished with solitary confinement.
This is a violation of human rights. We currently imprison a larger percentage of our citizenry than any other nation on earth. 1 in 15 black men are imprisoned; 1 in 100 Americans are imprisoned. This is an abomination in the 'land of the free'. There are many steps that must be taken to resolve this problem, the abolition of private prisons not least among them.