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Fall 2001

ISSN 0890-913X

Volume 17, Number 1

Categories: Fall 2001

Private Employment of Prison Labor

Charles C. Cox, Lexecon Inc.

Roger E. Meiners, University of Texas Arlington

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PrivateEmploymentofPrisonLabor*CharlesC.CoxLexeconInc.RogerE.MeinersUniversityofTexasCArlingtonKeepingpeopleinprisoniscostly.Tohelpdefrayexpenses,prisonerscanberequiredtowork,butrecentexperienceindicateslittlesuccess.Alookatsomehistoricalevidenceaboutprivateemploymentofprisonlabormayprovideinsightsaboutthecurrentsituation.Duringthe19thcentury,prisonersinstatepenitentiarieswerecommonlyemployedbyprivatefirms.Termsofemploymentweresetincontractsnegotiatedbetweenprisonofficialsandthefirms.Sometimesafirmsetupaplantintheprison.Othertimes,afirmtookresponsibilityforguardingtheprisoners,andtheyworkedoutsidetheprison.Revenuesgeneratedbytheconvictlaborcoveredashareofprisoncosts,helpedtosupportprisoners=dependents,andprovidedwagesforsomeprisoners.Proponentsofthecontractsystememphasizeditsefficiencyandclaimeditwaspreferabletoalternativeusesornon-useofconvictlabor.Tradeunionsattackedthesystemforcompetingwithfree(union)labor;manufacturersobjectedtocompetitionfromfirmsemployingconvictlabor;andreformersarguedthatprivateemploymentsubjectedprisonerstointolerable,crueltreatment.*ThankstoDanBenjamin,LouisDeAlessi,ErikFurubotn,CharlesKnoeber,FredMcChesney,RobertMcCormick,andClarkNardinelliforhelpfulcomments.In1885,some67percentofworkingprisonerswereemployedintheprivatesector.Thereafter,thecontractsystemdeclined.Somestatesprohibitedprivateemploymentofconvicts,butitpersistedinotherstates.Eventually,federallegislationallowedstatestorestrict

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Metadata [hide]

Title	Private Employment of Prison Labor
Authors/Creators:	Charles C. Cox, Lexecon Inc. Roger E. Meiners, University of Texas Arlington
Year:	2001
Volume:	17
Number:	1
Pages:	1 - 51
Publisher:	The Association of Private Enterprise Education
ISSN:	0890-913X
Document Type:	Articles

Citation:
Cox, Charles C.; Meiners, Roger E. / 2001. "Private Employment of Prison Labor." The Journal of Private Enterprise, 17(1): 1-51.