NCJ Number
106941
Journal
New England Journal on Criminal and Civil Confinement Volume: 13 Issue: 1 Dated: (Winter 1987) Pages: 117-144
Date Published
1987
Length
28 pages
Annotation
After briefly reviewing the history of noncompensatory inmate labor, this paper discusses the benefits and parameters of inmate-run businesses that permit inmates to retain profits.
Abstract
Most prison businesses place organizational and management responsibility with prison authorities. The few instances of true inmate entrepreneurship have occurred without premeditation and have met with some form of official disenfranchisement. Legal challenges to inmate-run businesses have yielded court rulings that a prisoner has no constitutional right to engage in a business while in prison. Officially sanctioned inmate-run businesses have included Con'Puter Systems Programming (Massachusetts), the Inmate Novelty Program (Maine), the Free Venture Pilot Program, and the Private Sector/Prison Industry Enhancement Certificate Program. True prisoner entrepreneurship has not actually been tried, however, as even the most innovative programs carry some restraints. Although there may be problems, security in particular, these could be overcome with an appropriate organizational structure. The most important factor in the effectiveness of inmate-run businesses is the official endorsement of the prison administration. 240 footnotes.