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7 J. Contemp. Crim. Just. iii (1991)

handle is hein.journals/jccj7 and id is 1 raw text is: Journal of Contemporary Criminal Justice iii Vol. 7 * No. 1 * March 1991 EDITORIAL COMMENT It has now been a decade and a half since the Weaversville Intensive Treatment Unit opened in Pennsylvania. This facility is regarded by many as the first for-profit correctional institution in the modem correctional privatization movement. Since then a variety of different kinds of facilities have opened under private control and operation. The Immigration and Naturalization Service opened a number of institutions under private con- tract in the early 1980s, beginning with the Pasadena Immigration Holding facility in 1980. In 1984 Hamilton County, Tennessee contracted with the Corrections Corporationof Americato assume responsibility for the Silverdale Detention Center, an adult work farm housing a wide range of offenders and pre-trial detainees. In 1988 the same company was awarded a contract to finance, construct and manage the New Mexico Women's Correctional facility. Thus the number and diversity of institutions created, owned, and operated by private companies has grown dramatically during the last half of the 1980s. Companies such as Behavioral Systems Southwest, Wackenhut, Corrections Corporation of America, Pricor, Buckingham Security, U. S. Corrections Corporation and a number of other firms have successfully sought contracts to operate adult and juvenile detention facilities, county jails, youth camps, federal immigration holding centers, state prisons, and pre-parole facilities. Although only a small fraction of inmates held in these kinds of institutions are in privately operated facilities, the number of such facilities is growing rapidly. Debate over the propriety of private sector involvement in the financing, construction, and management of private prisons has been spirited and wide ranging. The professional literature now contains scores of articles discuss- ing philosophic and moral predicates, cost-efficiency, service quality, insti- tutional flexibility, and legal issues such as liability. Articles have appeared providing historical comparisons with the nineteenth-century privatization movement, simulating lawsuits against private firms under existing state law, and providing empirical evidence on the impact of private involvement in corrections. This special issue on correctional privatization attempts to contribute to the ongoing discussion of the role of the private sector in the America correctional system. It begins with Linda Calvert Hanson's overview of legislative and government agency activity during the 1980s. She chronicles recent developments and provides valuable information on the current state of privatization-related legislation and legal opinion. Her survey suggests that the states have been making significant efforts to modify their laws to facilitate development of private sector involvement in corrections.

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