Consumer protection refers to the laws designed to aid retail consumers of goods and services that have been improperly manufactured, delivered, performed, handled, or described. Such laws provide the retail consumer with additional protections and remedies not generally provided to merchants and others who engage in business transactions, on the premise that the consumers do not enjoy a sufficient bargaining position with respect to the businessmen with whom they deal and therefore should not be strictly limited by the legal rules that govern recovery for damages among businessmen. The overarching goal is to protect individuals and the interest of the public in general from unfair and misleading activity in business and commerce (such as false advertising and deceptive trade practices) and scams perpetrated by criminals (such as identity theft and pyramid schemes) that harm a substantial number of consumers.
Corcoran is a town in Kings County, California, United States. Corcoran is located 17 miles (27 km) south-southeast of Hanford, at an elevation of 207 feet (63 m). It is part of the Hanford–Corcoran, Metropolitan Statistical Area. The population was 14,458 at the 2000 census. However, the California Department of Finance estimates that the population had grown to 25,893 as of January 1, 2009. Corcoran is most famous as the site of the California State Prison, Corcoran, home to a number of notable inmates such as Charles Manson, and Juan Corona. The California Substance Abuse Treatment Facility and State Prison, Corcoran is a separate facility that is also located in the city. As of September 2007, the two prisons held a combined total of 13,144 inmates. Inmates are counted as city residents by both the United States Census and the California Department of Finance. Thus, the incarcerated persons in the two prisons comprise approximately 50% of the total population of Corcoran.