NCJ Number
132875
Journal
Privatization Review Volume: 6 Issue: 1 Dated: (Winter 1991) Pages: 38-58
Date Published
1991
Length
21 pages
Annotation
The private corrections movement, developed in the 1980s, has faced stiff opposition since its inception. This opposition has come not only from public corrections managers, but also from scholars who claim that privatization could jeopardize the constitutional and legal rights of prisoners.
Abstract
The major source for legal remedies available to Federal and State prisoners is 42 U.S.C. Section 1983. An analysis of judicial interpretations of Section 1983 and the eleventh amendment which controls the award of compensatory, punitive, and injunctive damages as a result of civil suits brought by inmates against the State and reveals major limitations on the range of remedies available to prisoners housed in traditional State-operated correctional facilities. Many of these limitations would be inapplicable to prisoners housed in local correctional facilities and, by extension, in privatized State-level institutions. The author notes that correctional privatization has, in fact, not spawned the expected volume of litigation and has been able to deliver the promised combination of financial and service benefits. 53 notes