When man left his pure state of nature to join society, man entered into a contract with his given government. This contract operates under the condition that life and liberty be upheld above all and that said government be consensual. When man entered this state, he did so for protection from the magistrate. This protection was not free; the social contract accepted by the citizens of a state require the citizens to give up some amount of independence in order to respect the rights of his neighbors. If this man was to not respect the social contract and acted against another citizen of the state, the state has the right to punish this man.
This transgressor has the right to be punished; he has the chance to amend his wrongs by appealing to judges of authority and reason in the commonwealth. This guarantee of judgment by the commonwealth against its transgressors is a key attribute to the success of societies, for without the promise of retribution begins the road to the most undesirable state of war.
Recently, President Obama and his Department of Justice announced they will no longer use for-profit federal prisons. These prisons are owned by corporations and ran by corporations yet paid for by the government to house government criminals. This is not right.
While the violation a criminal can commit can be abysmal, the violation of the contract he entered with the state is the more egregious offense. The state renting out its punishment duties for corporations to make a profit goes against the very reason man formed societies. In the state of nature, one transgressed upon had the right to punish the transgressor. After leaving the state of nature, the right to punish granted to the state is conditional. This power of punishment, like all other powers possessed by the commonwealth, is derived from those who are governed. When one is punished by the state, he submits to the right given to the government to uphold the state’s laws. This submission guarantees the criminal is not expelled from the social contract but retains his rights as a citizen of the state.
Thus, a prisoner of the state is still in a contract with the government. Yet, when the prisoner is not left in the care of the government but some other entity, a new contract is created. This contract, however, cannot be consensual between the prisoner and private prison because the prisoner did not have control of his life to relinquish at the point of entering the private prison: the government had it. This makes the prisoner a slave of the private prison.
I applaud President Obama for taking the steps to end this cruel practice and protecting the basic rights afforded to American citizens.