The prison industry is big business in the US.
Judges even send kids to prison in return for cash from said prisons:
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/03/28/us/28judges.html?_r=1
And if that is going on with kids, then you just know it's happening with adults also. But we as a society can't out those judges for the same reason we couldn't out pedo priests for decades. It's just too much for people to handle.