Law Commons^™

Privatization And Prisons, E. S. Savas

Vanderbilt Law Review

"Privatization" means increased governmental reliance on the private sector, rather than on government agencies, to satisfy the needs of society. Since the word was first used in 1969,' privatization has gained broad recognition and widespread acceptance, and,in recent years, a major trend toward privatization has developed in the United States and abroad. The reasons for this trend are both pragmatic and ideological. Pragmatists advocate privatization because it offers a more efficient way to provide goods and services. Ideological opponents of big government support privatization be-cause it reduces the role of government. Privatization is therefore an important movement in East and …

The Implications Of Prison Privatization On The Conduct Of Prisoner Litigation Under 42 U.S.C. Section 1983, Susan L. Kay

Vanderbilt Law Review

Prisoners often seek redress in federal courts through causes of action brought under 42 U.S.C. Section 19831 for violations of their constitutional rights caused by the overall condition of their confinement or by one specific condition or incident. Although commentators disagree over the extent to which these cases burden federal district courts, they agree that prisoner litigation constitutes a large percentage of the civil rights litigation in district courts. One of the attractions of prison privatization for state and local governments is the belief that contracting prison management to private firms will relieve the government of the burden of defending …

Privatization Of Corrections: Defining The Issues, Ira P. Robbins

Vanderbilt Law Review

Even as the public is demanding that more criminals be incarcerated and that their sentences be lengthened, the problems of America's prisons and jails continue to plague, if not overwhelm,us. More than two-thirds of the states are currently under court order to correct conditions that violate the United States Constitution's prohibition against cruel and unusual punishment. There are many important questions, but there are still no clear, satisfactory answers.

The last few years have thus witnessed diverse, controversial developments. Some, like the voluntary accreditation of correctional facilities by the Commission on Accreditation for Corrections, have begun to take root. Others, …

Liability Of State Officials And Prison Corporations For Excessive Use Of Force Against Inmates Of Private Prisons, Donna S. Spurlock

Vanderbilt Law Review

Privatization of correctional institutions has emerged in response to the growing problem of prison overcrowding and the increasing cost of providing correctional services. Although it offers solutions to pressing social and financial problems, privatization raises two significant legal questions. First, how much force may a prison guard, hired by a private corrections corporation, use against a prisoner; and second, who will be liable when that guard uses excessive force?

This Note analyzes the issues surrounding the liability of both state and private corrections corporations for the excessive use of force by private prison guards. Part II examines the imposition of …

The Privatization Of Correctional Institutions: The Tennessee Experience, W.J. Michael Cody, Andy D. Bennett

Vanderbilt Law Review

Recently, the privatization of correctional institutions has been a topic of intense interest both in Tennessee and other parts of the Nation. In the hope that we might learn from the past, we undertook to examine Tennessee's convict leasing practices of the nineteenth century. This Article summarizes that research and provides a narrative and analysis of the recent events regarding privatization of correctional institutions in Tennessee.