What about the justice system?, Courts in shadowrun Options

[CanRay]

Naa. that's just assuming that they'll take him to the hospital before they book him.

I was saying if a chummer of yours was doing under a year in jail (( where they're less likely to have in house medical facilities)) if you can arrange for a need for him to be at the hospital, it's alot easier to sneak into a hospital and get past 2 to 4 guards than it is a secure jail.

Prisions usually have their own medical facilities (laughs* well what they say are). So you may need a different plan.

Better plan. As for prison "Medical Facilities"... *Shakes Head* No.

Currently working on a character that just finished a 20-year stretch (No chance of parole) in a Maximum Security Piston. The story starts with him getting out, after serving his full term. One of the things he did during his time inside was getting a Nurses Certification, and he worked in the clinic.

[Rasumichin]

Yeah. I meant more, with them linked to the private police forces. I.E. the Private police arrest you and you end up in a prison also run by them. I.E. their best interest for conviction.

The SR2 Lone Star sourcebook had some nice bits on their involvement in the penal system. They run a lot of prisons (including Clockwork Orange style brainwashing facilities according to some rumors) and also handle the parole and probation system in many communities.
Depending on how dystopian you want your game to be, anything besides the courts and federal police agencies could be handled by the same corporation.

If you want to make it easier for the players, you go the opposite way and have several private contractors and corpsec teams (who may hardly exchange data with each other) across the sprawl, with a few virtually lawless zones thrown in for good measure.
This way, you get a completely balkanized community where you can avoid the law for a while just by escaping to a different part of town.
Still pretty bleak and dystopian, but with a completely different feel and different effects on the gameplay.

[Nath]

There are already 260+ private prisons operating in the US.

Governor Schwarzenegger even proposed opening some more outside the US.

[Fortinbras]

Private Prisons aren't doing so well down in these parts.

[CanRay]

Private Prisons aren't doing so well down in these parts.

Just like hotels, it comes down to filled beds. The economy tanking and high fuel prices is hitting those too. Less traveling businessmen and truck drivers means less filled beds.