While private companies may be able to operate prisons more efficiently than the State, their interest in making profits is liable to make the protection of prisoners' rights a low priority. In a democracy, the administration of criminal justice is just only when the agents of punishment are also the agents of the law and of the people who make them, that is, the State that sentences criminals to prison for breaking the law should be responsible for their treatment during the course of their punishment. Prisons do not necessarily have to be operated by the State; however, they should be entrusted to nonprofit agencies, with publicly recognized programs and explicit authorization.