New Hampshire Council of Churches
People of faith strengthening New Hampshire communities
PO Box 1087, Concord, NH 03302-1087
www.NHChurches.org
125 Airport Rd, Concord NH 03301
infor@nhchurches.org
(603) 224-1352
Joint Statement Regarding Privatization of New Hampshire Prisons
The New Hampshire Council of Churches, an ecumenical Christ body of ten diverse denominations including
Protestant, Anglican, Roman Catholic and Orthodox Christian traditions urges serious caution to the state of
New Hampshire in the pursuit of privatizing New Hampshire prisons. As Christians we believe that all of life is
sacred, even when human life is marred by sin. Scripture encourages us to recognize the life and dignity of
every person, even in our pursuit of justice and restoration for those who have broken state laws. Even in our
imprisonment of those who would endanger larger society, the Gospel calls for just and human treatment that
leads to reconciliation and new life.
We set forth the following considerations as New Hampshire elected officials and citizens thing about a
move to privatization of New Hampshire prisons:

Prisons driven by profit create an incentive for full enrollment, an outcome which is not in line with our
best intentions of human rehabilitation, restoration, and healing. The purpose of corrections would be
to protect public safety and promote healing and human redemption. In short, we question whether
private prisons have the incentive to help people reintegrate into the community and reduce the
likelihood they will return to prison.

We are troubled by the working conditions and wages of those trusted to care for prisoners and the high
rate of turnover in private prisons. These issues raise concerns of the dignity of those who labor as well
as the safety of prisoners and our communities. We urge elected officials to review information on
staffing escapes, and recidivism in private prisons before making this significant change in New
Hampshire.

New Hampshire’s discussion of corrections should not begin with the question of who should build and
operate our prisons, but instead should begin with a careful assessment of what measures can best
achieve goals of public safety, reduced recidivism, reduced crime and successful return to society of
criminal offenders.
Therefore, we the undersigned urge strong caution, consideration and an opportunity for public input before
privatizing New Hampshire prisons.
Adopted by the Board of Directors January 2013
Member Denominations: American Baptist Churches, USA, Episcopal, Evangelical Lutheran Church of America, Friends, Greek
Orthodox, Presbyterian Church/USA, Roman Catholic, United Church of Christ, United Methodist, Unitarian Universalist
*Numbers attained from the Center from Disease Control, National Center for Health Statistics, Mortality Report, 2012
Living in unity, working for justice brings denominations as a community of communions - the N H Council of Churches
American Baptist, Episcopal, Evangelical Lutheran Church of America, Friends, Greek Orthodox,
Presbyterian Church / USA, Roman Catholic, United Church of Christ, United Methodist, Unitarian Universalist