Prison Industry Enhancement Certification Program

Legislative History

The Prison Industry Enhancement Certification Program was first authorized under the Justice System Improvement Act of 1979 (Public Law 96–157, §827) and was later expanded under the Justice Assistance Act of 1984 (Public Law 98–473, § 819). The Crime Control Act of 1990 (Public Law 101–647) allowed for the indefinite continuation of the PIE Certification Program.

Background

During the 19th century, prisons commonly put convicts to work and sold the fruits of their labor. This practice eventually brought about conflict between prison administrators and those members of society, including union members and small business people, who were displaced or in direct competition with prison-made goods. Critics of convict labor brought grievances to the federal government, pointing out that without the usual costs associated with labor and overhead of free enterprise, prison industries were able to make their products for prices much lower than in the private sector. These items were then sold either on the open market to the general public or to local, state, and federal governmental agencies, crippling other industries that had to pay living wages.

In 1924, then-Secretary of Commerce Herbert Hoover held a conference to discuss the “ruinous and unfair competition between prison-made products and free industry and labor” (70 Congress Rec. S656 (1928)). As a result of the conference, Congress requested that a study be done to look into the problem that existed between these two industries. Arthur Davenport, the chairman of the Advisory Committee on Prison Industries at that time, said that

Davenport concluded that a solution was imperative—either prisoners would sit idle and not work or private industry would not be able to compete with the prices of prison-made products.

The first solution presented was the enactment of the Hawes-Cooper Act in 1929 (Public Law 70–669, 45 Stat. 1084). This law did little, however, to rectify the problem caused by prison-made goods. Under this law, products produced in prisons were placed under restrictions only when they arrived in the state where they were to be sold, but many states, at the time, did not have laws to regulate the sale of prison-made goods. It was not until the Ashurst-Sumners Act (Public Law L. 74–215, 49 Stat. 494 1939) was passed and it became a federal crime, subject to criminal prosecution and resulting in a fine or imprisonment of no more than two years, that the distribution of prison-made goods was finally regulated. The Ashurst-Sumners Act recognized exceptions,

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