NCJ Number
149032
Date Published
1993
Length
133 pages
Annotation
The House Subcommittee on Intellectual Property and Judicial Administration convened a hearing in March 1993 to receive testimony on UNICOR (Federal Prison Industries), created in 1934 as a self-supporting government corporation to provide dependable work for inmates.
Abstract
The Federal prison system includes about 74,000 inmates and over 8,000 contract facilities. Inmates have been employed in the construction and landscape preparation of new correctional facilities and have also worked in prisons in janitorial and laundry jobs. Restrictions on inmate construction labor and the limited number of prison jobs, however, have necessitated the establishment of additional jobs. As a critical component of overall prison management, UNICOR is designed to provide those additional jobs. Witnesses at the hearing on UNICOR included both government and private organizations and individuals. They addressed the impact of UNICOR on private business and labor, the cost-effectiveness of UNICOR, the effect of work opportunities on inmate adjustment and rehabilitation, the link between UNICOR experience and postrelease outcome, and UNICOR operations and product lines. Appendixes contain additional statements and letters presented at the hearing. 6 tables and 1 figure