Keeling v. Schaefer.

• Position: ADMINISTRATION

U.S. District Court

INMATE FUNDS

Keeling v. Schaefer, 181 F.Supp.2d 1206 (D.Kan. 2001). A prison inmate brought a [section] 1983 action against corrections officials and a private corporation that employs inmates within a corrections facility. The district court granted summary judgment to the defendants on some of the claims. The court held that an employee of the private corporation was not a "state actor" for the purpose of an action alleging Eighth Amendment violations. The court noted that the corporation was not performing a function--correction and rehabilitation of criminals--traditionally performed only by the state. Rather, the corporation was engaged in making a profit through its embroidery business, and the use of inmate labor and its location inside the facility were merely incidental to its business plan.

The inmate was working for Impact Design, a private for-profit corporation operating within the confines of the Lansing Correctional Facility (Kansas). Impact employed inmates under the provisions of federal laws and regulations administered by the U.S. Department of Justice through the Prison Industry Enhancement Certification Program (PIECP). One of the PIECP requirements compels inmate workers to be paid the prevailing wage in the community for...