Although California in the 1850's differed in many ways from the modern United States, both had an ethnically heterogeneous population, intense public concern about high crime rates, strong public demand for rigorous law enforcement and severe sentences, an inclination to excuse vigilante justice, a rapidly increasing prison population, and a concern with the rising costs of corrections. In California, two entrepreneurs who were heavily involved in State politics proposed that they manage a State prison in exchange for inmate labor. However, cost cutting, cruel treatment of inmates, neglect of public security, political manipulations, the employment of unqualified personnel, and other problems emerged. This experiment encountered problems in all four areas of John Mullen's analytical framework: political, administrative, legal, and financial. These issues, together with current concerns such as prisoners' rights and "skimming" by contractors who agree to manage only the easiest institutions, should all be considered in current debates regarding privatization in corrections. 46 reference notes