Article Title
Private Prisons & Human Rights: Examining Israel's Ban on Private Prisons in a US Context
Document Type
Essay
Abstract
This article users a human rights lens to examine prison privatization in the US. The analysis builds on the 2009 Israeli Supreme Court ruling against the privatization of prisons, which relied on the human rights theories of both decommodification and dignity. The Israeli interpretations of dignity, and decommodification theory as related to the privatization of prisons suggest that prison privatization results in the commodification of both the state and prisoner, through the improper delegation of governmental power, which results in an infringement of the prisoner's human right to dignity. This argument is examined in the context of US statute and case law. A brief description of US state laws prohibiting the privatization of prisons is also presented. The result is a description of how the Israeli argument may extend to a US context.
CU Commons Citation
Henry, Brandy F.
(2019)
"Private Prisons & Human Rights: Examining Israel's Ban on Private Prisons in a US Context,"
Concordia Law Review: Vol. 4:
No.
1, Article 8.
Available at:
https://digitalcommons.csp.edu/clr/vol4/iss1/8