Since 1970, our prison population has risen 700 percent.

And that’s apparently good for business.

A new study by In the Public Interest found that 65 percent of state and local private prison contracts studied guarantee prison occupancy rates (“lockup quotas”) or force taxpayers to pay for empty beds if the prison population falls due to lower crime rates or other factors (“low-crime taxes”). Some private prison contracts even demand a 100 percent quota!

Before you check out the infographics below (guaranteed to get your blood boiling even more than it already is, if you’re human), sign this petition to say no to lockup quotas in private prisons.

(Disclosure: I have a brother in prison, which makes it even more concerning for me and my family.)

Relephant prison stats:

With only 5% of the world’s population, the U.S. has 25% of the world’s prison population – that makes us the world’s largest jailer.

One in 99 adults are living behind bars in the U.S. This marks the highest rate of imprisonment in American history.

One in 31 adults are under some form of correctional control, counting prison, jail, parole and probation populations.

Sign this petition to say no to lockup quotas in private prisons.

Download the full report: Criminal: How Lockup Quotas and “Low-Crime Taxes” Guarantee Profits for Private Prison Corporations

Want to learn more about the problem with mass incarceration? Read this document from the ACLU.

Photo: jglsongs

Special thanks to Beth Buczynski.

Love elephant and want to go steady?

Sign up for our (curated) daily and weekly newsletters!

Editor: Bryonie Wise