Across the United States, two industries are quietly reshaping incarceration into a multibillion-dollar business: prison tablet providers and private prison corporations. Marketed as tools for rehabilitation and efficiency, these systems instead impose crushing costs on families and create financial incentives to keep people locked up.
Clutch Justice is launching investigations into both and calling on those with firsthand experience to step forward.
Prison Tablet Providers: Innovation or Extortion?
Let’s start with the digital snake oil salesmen.
Companies like JPay, ViaPath, and others pitch prison tablets as a lifeline for connection, education, and rehabilitation. Sounds noble, right? Except when you look at the fine print:
- $5 for a 10¢ email
- “Streaming music” at prices that make Spotify look like charity
- Paywalls slapped on everything from video calls to law library access.
For families already struggling to pay court fines, commissary costs, and inflated phone charges, these “innovations” are nothing more than corporate leeches dressed up in tech.
Private Prisons: Justice for Sale
Then there’s the big fish: CoreCivic, GEO Group, and friends. They’ve turned incarceration into a business model where:
Beds = dollars.
More incarcerated people = happier shareholders.
Rehabilitation = bad for business.
Because why invest in reducing recidivism when you can make a killing (literally and figuratively) keeping people locked up? Private prisons are the perfect marriage of mass incarceration and Wall Street greed.
And they don’t just warehouse human beings; they lobby lawmakers, fight reforms, and hide behind “efficiency” while pocketing tax dollars meant for public safety.
Why This Matters
Both of these industries feed on the same lie: that justice can be commodified. They turn punishment into profit and force families into impossible choices: stay connected with your loved one or pay your light bill.
This isn’t “corrections.” It’s exploitation with a glossy brochure.
I Need Your Help
I’m investigating both prison tablet providers and private prisons and I need voices from the inside.
Whistleblowers who’ve seen how the contracts get written. Family members drained dry by endless fees. Advocates who know the playbook these companies run. Formerly incarcerated people who lived this nightmare firsthand.
- Reach out on LinkedIn or email me at hello@clutchjustice.com
- If you can’t help directly, share this post. The more eyes, the harder it is for these industries to hide.
Justice doesn’t come with a WiFi fee or a shareholder dividend. Let’s talk.
What’s Next from Clutch
Clutch Justice will be digging into:
- The contracts that keep these companies fat and happy.
- The lawmakers who rubber-stamp them.
- The families who are fighting back.
Stay tuned and if you’ve got receipts, now’s the time to share them.
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