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NT OF JUSSG OVCRAMSDEPAMERTNBJ A C EIOF FOffice of Justice ProgramsCETIU.S. Department of JusticeIJBJ OO F OJJ D PRJ US T I C E PNational Institute of JusticeNational Institute of JusticeProgramFocWork in AmericanPrisons:Joint Ventures withthe Private Sectorus
PROGRAM FOCUSWork in American Prisons: JointVentures with the Private Sectorby George E. Sextonbreakfast, but he’s already running behindand can’t afford to be late for work. It’lljust have to be coffee and a quick donuton the run.It’s 6 o’clock on Monday morning, still dark outside, when the alarm goes off and John Doe strugglesout of bed. He’s in and out of the shower in a minuteand then nearly cuts himself shaving, he’s in such ahurry. He promised a couple of the other guys onthe company softball team that he’d meet them forHighlightsPrison industries, using inmate labor to manufacture goods for private firms, were thrivingenterprises in the first quarter of this century.However, the sale of open market prisonmade products was banned in the 1930’s and1940’s by Congress and the States, in response to protests from both competing industries and labor unions. In 1979 legislationwas enacted to restore private sector involvement in prison industries to its former status,provided certain conditions of the labor market are met.This Program Focus describes how companies in South Carolina, California, and Connecticut have formed successful partnershipswith State and local correctional agencies.Some positive features of these collaborations include: A cost-competitive, motivated work force,which can continue to work after releasefrom prison. The proximity of a prison-based feederplant to the company’s regular facility. Financial incentives, including low-cost industrial space and equipment purchase subsidy, that are offered by corrections officials. Safe work environment due to the presenceof security personnel and a metal detectorthat keeps weapons out of the shop area.2 National Institute of Justice The partial return to society of inmate earnings to pay State and Federal taxes, offsetincarceration costs, contribute to the support of inmates’ families, and compensatevictims.Challenges encountered include: Absenteeism and rapid turnover ofemployees. Limited opportunities for training. Logistical problems, such as appropriateaccess for deliveries.Representatives of companies interested injoint venture arrangements should considersuch issues as: Federal and State laws regulating the markets, types of permissible business relationships, and rights and responsibilities ofinmates, staff, and private companies. Appropriate goals for the joint venture thatare consistent with the mission of the corrections agency. Support of the warden of the host prison. Qualification of the joint venture manager,who should have prior experience incorrections as well as an understanding ofbusiness operations.Just after he has punched in at 7 a.m.,Denise Loftus, the Section Three supervisor, calls John and the other members ofhis work team to go over the day’s production schedule. Northern Telecom justput in a rush order for a thousand co-axialcables, so they’ll have to work with Section Five if they’re going to make the Friday shipping date.After the meeting, John sets up the workteam’s hand tools and production boards,while some of his crew rush off with thebill-of-materials to get the parts they needfor the job. As soon as they get back, thewhole team will start assembling thecables. They want to get started by 7:30a.m.By 8 a.m. the shop is humming, and itwill stay that way until noon, when everyone breaks for lunch. After lunch, an industrial engineer from the company’smain plant stops by to ask the team whatthey think about the design for a new IBMcable the company is bidding on. RobertoKelly, the team’s quality control honcho,recommends a change that will allowcable to fit more easily into the team’shand tools. The engineer agrees and altersthe design. That’s one of the things thatJohn likes about the company—they listen.When the final whistle blows at 3 p.m.,John knows he’ll be tired, but he figuresthat comes with the job—that and taxes.With taxes, rent, and child support payments, there isn’t much left for the carhe’s been saving for. He’ll need it forcommuting next month when he’s transferred to the Myrtle Beach plant.
PROGRAM FOCUSFederal Regulation of Prison-BasedJoint VenturesIn 1979, Congress enacted Public Law96-157 (codified at 18 U.S.C. 1761(c)and 41 U.S.C. 35), which created thePrivate Sector/Prison Industry Enhancement Certification Program (PS/PIEC).The program authorizes correctionalagencies to engage in the interstate shipment of prison-made goods for privatebusiness use if: Inmates working in private sector prisonindustries are paid at a rate not less thanthe rate paid for work of a similarAt the end of the day, John shows the newman on the team how to do his final inspection and product count, while theother men clean up their work area. Afterthey all punch out, they wait in line to gothrough the metal detector before leavingthe shop and walking across the prisonyard to their cells.John (a fictitious name but true-to-life inmate) and the other 250 inmate-workerswho assemble wire harnesses for EscodIndustries are part of an innovative jointventure inside the Evans Correctional Facility in South Carolina. To be sure, whenprison work programs are mentioned,most people still think of one product andone customer—license plates made forState governments. However, a small butgrowing number of private companieslike Escod are paying inmates to producea wide variety of products and servicesfrom inside the penal institution.Joint ventures between a private companyand a prison, like the partnership in SouthCarolina that employs John, are not yetcommon. But in the last decade, companyexecutives in an increasing number ofStates have begun forming joint ventureswith prison officials who are eager tonature in the locality in which the worktakes place.and the States prohibited the open marketsale of prison-made goods. Prior to the initiation of a project, localunions are consulted.The current revival of private sectorprison industries was made possible in1979 when Congress lifted its ban on theinterstate transportation and sale ofprison-made goods for prisons that metthe conditions of a specially created Private Sector Prison Industry EnhancementCertification Program (PS/PIEC). Thisprogram requires participating correctional agencies to certify that inmateworkers are paid local prevailing wagesand that the interests of other parties thatcould be adversely affected by the jointventure are protected. (See “FederalRegulation of Prison-Based Joint Ventures.”) The new legislation was an essential first step in motivating privatecompanies to use prison-based workforces, since most business markets todaycross State borders. The employment of inmates does notresult in the displacement of employedworkers outside the prison, does notoccur in occupations in which there isa surplus of labor in the locality, anddoes not impair existing contractsfor services.branch out from their traditional stateuseprison industries to produce goods andservices for the private sector.After offering a brief overview of the history and current status of prison industries, this Program Focus examines howthree companies have developed successful and mutually beneficial partnershipswith prisons in South Carolina. Two otherjoint ventures in California and Connecticut are also described briefly to illustratesuccessful partnerships that companiesand correctional agencies have formed inother States.The FederalGovernment Takesthe LeadPrivate sector involvement in prison industries is not new. During the early decades of this century, prison factoriesmaking products for private companiesflourished. But the unregulated use ofprison labor led to complaints of unfaircompetition from organized labor andcompeting manufacturers. As a result,during the 1930’s and 1940’s CongressAs of March 1993, the U.S. Departmentof Justice, which administers the PS/PIECProgram, had certified 32 correctionalagencies to operate private sector prisonindustries similar to the enterprises described in this report. According to thedepartment, approximately 1,000 inmatesare employed in these joint ventures. Private companies now use prison-basedwork for data entry and information processing, electronic component assembly,garment manufacturing, contract packaging, metal fabrication, telemarketing, andhandling travel reservations.Everyone benefits from joint ventures.Companies are attracted to working withprisons because inmates represent areadily available and dependable sourceof entry-level labor that is a cost-effectivealternative to work forces found inMexico, the Caribbean Basin, SoutheastAsia, and the Pacific Rim countries. “Do-Program Focus 3
PROGRAM FOCUSmestic content is an important benefit ofusing a prison-based work force compared with using an offshore labor market,” says one industry executive. “Wecan put a Made-in-the-U.S.A. label on ourproduct. In fact, our sales staff told us thatthe retention of these jobs in the UnitedStates influenced purchasing agents attwo large organizations to buy our product rather than a competitor’s whose product is made offshore.” The executive addsthat “keeping the jobs in the countryhelped line workers in our other plants accept the idea of a prison-based workforce.”Correctional administrators report thatjoint ventures provide meaningful, productive employment that helps to reduceinmate idleness, considered to be a common cause of prisoner disruptions. Correctional administrators also indicate thatthe existence of private sector jobs can beused to motivate positive behavior andgood work habits on the part of inmatesthroughout the prison. According to Richard Bazzle, Warden of the Leath Correctional Facility in South Carolina, “theinmate who realizes that an initial assign-ment in the kitchen might some day leadto a higher paying job in our garmentplant is more likely to work hard and stayout of trouble in order to get that betterjob tomorrow.”The general public, too, tends to endorseproductive employment for inmates whenthey are assured that prison-based jobswill not displace law-abiding citizens. Forexample, although in 1990 California voters rejected a 450 million bond issue forprison construction, they approved achange in the State’s constitution to allowNIJ-NIC Collaboration on Private Sector Prison Industriesand Other Offender ProgramsThe National Institute of Justice (NIJ) andthe National Institute of Corrections (NIC)have cooperated on a number of projects.The following reflects these continuingefforts.In 1978, the National Institute of Justiceand the National Institute of Correctionsentered into a memorandum of understanding (MOU) that included identifying opportunities for the two agencies to servethe field better through collaborative efforts. Earlier this year we revisited theMOU and renewed our commitment towork together on a number of joint initiatives.More recently the Office of CorrectionalJob Training and Placement (OCJTP) wascreated within the National Institute ofCorrections. With its creation as a catalyst,a new joint agency effort has begun toexplore ways to assist incarcerated and exoffenders to become gainfully employed.4 National Institute of JusticeThis initiative will give us the opportunity toengage other Federal agencies, State andlocal governments, business and industry,private and not-for-profit organizations, educators, and educational institutions in identifying solutions to this systemic problem.Both NIJ and NIC have had a long history ofsupporting programs for offenders including vocational training, corrections education, as well as State-use and private sectorindustries. This Program Focus on privatesector prison industries is but one indicationof our continued commitment in this area.Given our collective histories of accomplishment in the area, it seemed logical andappropriate for our agencies to share ourtalents and resources to further the goals ofOCJTP. While we will continue to worktogether to support the field through research, evaluation, development, information dissemination, training, and the provision of technical assistance to State and localagencies, staff from our respective agencies have been tasked with taking a freshlook at traditional approaches.As a result of several brainstorming andinformation-sharing sessions, a number ofpotential joint NIJ/NIC initiatives are already under consideration. We are determined to move quickly on a number of themore promising ideas. At the same time,however, our staff will be calling on youfor recommendations as to how best toachieve the mission of the Office of Correctional Job Training and Placement.Jeremy TravisDirectorNational Institute of JusticeMorris ThigpenDirectorNational Institute of Corrections
PROGRAM FOCUSPhoto by Jack Owenthe operation of private sector prison industries when they were assured by thegovernor that such jobs would not resultin the layoff of civilian-workers.South Carolina Takesthe InitiativeThe opportunity for the private sector touse inmate labor in South Carolinaopened up when Tony Ellis became Director of the Division of Correctional Industries in 1990. Ellis’ division is chargedwith employing as many inmates as possible in each of the State’s prisons. However, meeting this mandate was becomingincreasingly difficult because of two ongoing developments. First, South Carolinawas faced with a dramatic increase in itsinmate population. From 1989 to 1993alone, the number of prisoners in the Statejumped from 13,004 to 17,294—an increase of 33 percent. Second, because theState budget was shrinking as part of thenationwide recession, State agencies hadless money with which to purchase inmate-produced goods and services. As aresult, the capacity of stateuse industriesto productively employ inmates alsodiminished.Ellis decided to tackle this predicamentby expanding inmate employment opportunities to include working for privatecompanies manufacturing products forsale on the open market. In the past 3years, Ellis’ move into the private sectorhas paid off for everyone; three companies have set up successful joint venturesthat employ over 400 inmates in SouthCarolina’s prisons. Major companies andinstitutions like IBM, Victoria’s Secret,and Emory University purchase productsmanufactured in South Carolina’s prisons.At the Evans Correctional Facility in South Carolina, Escod Industries employs inmates to assembleelectronic cables involving the use of assembly boards.Escod Industries—Rewiring Europe’sTelephone SystemEscod Industries, a division of InsilcoCorporation, a Fortune 500 conglomeratebased in Columbus, Ohio, operates sevenmanufacturing plants in the United States.One plant is in South Carolina’s EvansCorrectional Facility, a 1,100 bed maximum/medium security prison. Last year,inmate-workers at Escod’s prison plantassembled 16 million worth of electroniccables that were purchased by corporations like IBM and the Canadian-basedNorthern Telecom Corporation. NorthernTelecom uses Escod’s products in thetelephone cables it sells to several EasternEuropean countries that are upgradingtheir communication systems to meet thelatest European Economic Communitystandards.How the partnership began. Pat Timms,Escod’s Vice President of Operations,learned about the availability of SouthCarolina’s prison-based work force whenhe received a letter from Tony Ellis suggesting that if the company were thinkingof expanding its operations, it should takea serious look at South Carolina’s prisonbased work force to meet its growing employment needs.Ellis’ letter was timely because it arrivedwhen Escod’s top management was looking closely at what the company wouldhave to do to maintain its position in theincreasingly competitive electronics industry. One of the options being consideredby top managers was the operation of asatellite plant in Mexico that would useProgram Focus 5
PROGRAM FOCUSthe country’s highly productive and lowcost Maquiladora work force. But Timms,who had previously worked for the AlstonWilkes Society—a prison volunteer organization—was intrigued by Ellis’ letterbecause he thought that a domestic feederplant located near his principal customersand staffed with a cost-competitive workforce would better fit the company’s justin-time delivery schedules than a plant located nearly 1,000 miles away in Mexico.Furthermore, he made some calculationsthat showed only an insignificant difference in labor costs between SouthCarolina’s prison-based work force, witha total burdened rate of 6.04 per hour,and the comparable rate of a Mexicobased plant that included transportationcosts for finished products.pattern, tie the wires into bundles, and finish them into electronic cables. Inmatesperform their jobs in teams. Each team,composed of from 5 to 25 workers, depending on the complexity and the size ofa given product, is responsible for the entire production process, including settingup the tools and equipment required tocomplete the job order, assembling andinspecting the wire harnesses, and packaging the finished products.Motivated inmates make good workers.Escod’s plant manager at the Evans facility, Bert Christy, says, “The productivityand quality of this work force is as goodas, if not better than, any that I’ve everworked with.” To prove his point, Christypoints to the quality control award that theEvans plant won from IBM for being oneof the 10 feeder plants (of a total of 500)to deliver 25,000 cables to the computergiant with zero defects.Christy attributes the inmates’ superiorwork to their high motivation, pointingout: “Any person here has a strong desireto work because this is by far the bestgame in town. They want this place to bea success. And so do we.” Christy saysthat it is important to build on the inmates’ intrinsic motivation to do well byPhoto by Jack OwenArmed with these figures, Timms wasable to convince his colleagues at Escodthat the company should open a plant inside the prison. South Carolina correctional officials also helped to swayEscod’s decision by offering the companyfinancial incentives that included low-costindustrial space and a 250,000 subsidyfor equipment purchases.Current operations. Today, 10 civilianEscod staff—including two female floormanagers—supervise over 250 inmates atthe Evans Correctional Facility. The company operates a two-shift schedule in theprison: 190 inmates are employed on the7 a.m. to 3 p.m. shift, and 60 inmateswork on the 3 p.m. to 11 p.m. shift. Theprison superintendent would like to see athird shift and a total employment of 300.Escod’s prison-based work force hand assembles a wide variety of wire harnessesfor electronic cables. Inmates unreelcolor-coded wires from large spools, individually lay them out on large sheets ofplywood that outline the correct assembly6 National Institute of JusticeEscod’s plant in the Evans Correctional Facility in South Carolina won an award from IBM for beingamong the 10 out of 500 feeder plants to deliver 25,000 cables with zero defects.
PROGRAM FOCUSPhoto by Jack Owentreating them consistently and fairly andby rewarding good work. If a work teamattains productivity, quality, and on-timedelivery goals for a week, the team is rewarded with a fast food lunch. If the plantachieves its quality and efficiency goalsfor a month, members get a dinner cateredby a local restaurant.Christy maintains that the inmate workforce has higher education test scores andmore extensive work experience thanmany individuals applying for jobs at thecompany’s main plant. Indeed, he believes many inmate workers are overqualified for the jobs they hold, whichmight be expected to reduce morale. Onthe other hand, these inmates might simply be satisfied that they have somethingmeaningful to occupy their time in p
Joint ventures between a private company and a prison, like the partnership in South Carolina that employs John, are not yet common. But in the last decade, company executives in an increasing number of States have begun forming joint ventures with prison officials who are eager to and the States prohibited the open market sale of prison-made .
Mr.Justice Sh.Riaz Ahmed, HCJ Mr.Justice Munir A.Sheikh Mr.Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry Mr.Justice Qazi Muhammad Farooq Mr.Justice Mian Muhammad Ajmal Mr.Justice Syed Deedar Hussain Shah Mr.Justice Hamid Ali Mirza Mr.Justice Abdul Hameed Dogar Mr.Justice Muhammad Nawaz Abbasi CONSTITUTION PETITION NO.15 OF 2002
and Victims: 2006 National Report. Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Justice, Office of Justice Programs, Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention. The Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Preven tion is a component of the Office of Justice Programs, which also includes the Bureau of Justice Assistance,
E O F JUST I C E P R O G R A M B S J N I J OJJ D P B J S O V C U.S. Department of Justice Office of Justice Programs Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention 1999 National Report Series Juvenile Justice Bulletin Shay Bilchik, Administrator DECEMBER 1999 Juvenile Justice: A Century of Change As the Nation moves into the 21st century .
Criminal Justice Information Project Catherine Plummer, SEARCH Pamela Scanlon, Automated Regional Justice Information System Laurie Smith, Kalamazoo Criminal Justice Council Integrated Justice Information System Institute (Integrated Justice Information Systems): Susan Bates, Justice Management Inc. Steve Mednick, Law Offices of Steven G.
Justice David S. Wiggins Justice Daryl L. Hecht Justice Brent R. Appel Justice Thomas D. Waterman Justice Edward M. Mansfield Justice Bruce B. Zager In Memoriam Chief Justice W. Ward Reynoldson (Iowa Supreme Court 1971-1987) Justice James H. Carter (Iowa Supreme Court 1982-2006)
This survey was made possible through a cooperative agreement between the National Coalition Against Domestic Violence (NCADV) and the Office for Victims of Crime, Office of Justice Programs, U.S. Department of Justice (Cooperative Agreement #85-SN-CX-K036) U.S. Department of Justice National Institute of Justice 115541
U.S. Department of Justice Response Center 1-800-421-6770 This document was prepared by The Spangenberg Group for the Bureau of Justice Assistance, Office of Justice Programs,U.S.Department of Justice. The opinions,findings,and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this document are those of the authors and do not neces-
The National Institute of Justice is a component of the Office of Justice Programs, which also includes the Bureau of Justice As s i s tance, the Bureau of Justice Statistics, the Office of Juve n i l e Justice and Delinquency Pr evention, and the Office for Victims of Crime.
