The entire concept of private correctional institutes is quite troubling. Unlike, say, airlines, the government has an intransgressible responsibility to the justice system. Prisoners are those who have been condemned by the state as unfit for quotidian life. Admittedly, the privately imprisoned have the same rights as other inmates. But it probably won't.
Prisoners are our society's most rejected members.
Upon entering the prison gates, an inmate has given up a crucial element of dignity. If anything, the state should take a more active role in improving our prisons, making sure today's sentenced can one day re-enter normal life. Private incarceration demonstrates a shamefully carefree attitude toward the plight of the most vulnerable. In the Lawrenceville Correctional Center, the new prison wardens will be the Corrections Corporation of America, based in Nashville. Time will tell how the company manages Virginia's first private prison.