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I worked in federal prison sweatshops for 23 cents an hour

theintercept.com

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Re: I worked in federal prison sweatshops for 23 cents an hour

#41

Post by FreshStart »

intrasight wrote: post #22
brianwawok wrote: post #12

Earlier quoted context omitted.

So you are cool with private industry making millions on the back of “captive” slave labor markets for $1 an hour?

UNICOR is a wholly owned government corporation not a private company. Average cost to taxpayers per incarcerated person is about $100K. So let them work for free up until that amount. But even if it were private, how ethically is this worse than private companies making billions building weapons of mass destruction? Or platforms of mass surveillance?

So they all should venture into software to recapture the value as fast as possible?

Re: I worked in federal prison sweatshops for 23 cents an hour

#43

Post by pylua »

brianwawok wrote: post #12
pasttense01 wrote: post #9

[flagged]

So you are cool with private industry making millions on the back of “captive” slave labor markets for $1 an hour?

I can hear the companies complaining now … no one wants to be an inmate anymore.

Re: I worked in federal prison sweatshops for 23 cents an hour

#44

Post by j0hnyl »

Simulacra wrote: post #37

I am conflicted about prison labor. When I lived in SF I volunteered at Alcatraz and remember the things produced there in the distant past. Everyone has heard of license plates. I think labor for prisoners is a good thing if it produces something good for society. However, in my opinion the conditions in American prisons are awful to bordering inhumane. America's penal system is grossly underfunded rendering most re…

Prison in America is punitive and has nothing to do with rehabilitation.

Re: I worked in federal prison sweatshops for 23 cents an hour

#45

Post by PM_me_your_math »

pseudotrash wrote: post #10

Whether someone is a criminal or not doing this work is besides the point. The person is being punished for the crime through incarceration. Having to serve as a slave in that system should be illegal. This is btw also common practice in Germany and France. Prisoners who want access to sports, more than 1 shower a week, a TV/radio, etc ... are only able to do so when taking part in prison work. Edit: And whether one…

[flagged]

Re: I worked in federal prison sweatshops for 23 cents an hour

#46

Post by dang »

Pigalowda wrote: post #19
pseudotrash wrote: post #10

Whether someone is a criminal or not doing this work is besides the point. The person is being punished for the crime through incarceration. Having to serve as a slave in that system should be illegal. This is btw also common practice in Germany and France. Prisoners who want access to sports, more than 1 shower a week, a TV/radio, etc ... are only able to do so when taking part in prison work. Edit: And whether one…

[flagged]

Could you please stop breaking the site guidelines? You've unfortunately been doing it repeatedly (https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=37146068 was particularly bad, and there are other cases). We have to ban accounts that keep doing this. I don't want to ban you, so if you'd please please review https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html and stick to the rules from now on, we'd appreciate it.

Re: I worked in federal prison sweatshops for 23 cents an hour

#47

Post by SamoyedFurFluff »

PM_me_your_math wrote: post #45
pseudotrash wrote: post #10

Whether someone is a criminal or not doing this work is besides the point. The person is being punished for the crime through incarceration. Having to serve as a slave in that system should be illegal. This is btw also common practice in Germany and France. Prisoners who want access to sports, more than 1 shower a week, a TV/radio, etc ... are only able to do so when taking part in prison work. Edit: And whether one…

[flagged]

I don’t think this is taking the OP in good faith. People in jail are arguably “returning” the most important thing anyone can have— their time on earth.

Re: I worked in federal prison sweatshops for 23 cents an hour

#49

Post by wizerdrobe »

mindslight wrote: post #40
bdcravens wrote: post #15

Some states like Texas don't even pay inmates for work.

I think this might be better, for similar reasons as why the daycare that started charging a late fee ended up with more late parents (by moving from a social dynamic to a financial one). If forced labor is just part of the sentence, we can still argue over whether that is unjust punishment or not just like we do with the death penalty. But otherwise that's just how it is. Whereas "paying" inmates tens of cents an ho…

That raises a sticky question of how much is enough relative to the cost of their incarceration.

From a pure problem-solving standpoint, we could and probably should raise that rate by a few dollars to be put in a trust disbursed upon release to give inmates a better chance at landing some accommodation and runway to find a proper job, such that “sell drugs” doesn’t become an immediate obvious option.

Generously, the poor rate of pay seems almost the same situation as the lagging minimum wage rate. It may have once been enough (a long long time ago.) I recall reading Alcatraz inmate autobiographies as a child and recall them leaving a 10 year bank robbery sentence with enough money to find an apartment and a down payment on transportation.

Perhaps a better implementation would be $0.25 per hour goes into a canteen fund for goodies and another $4.25 per hour goes into your release trust fund? Still below minimum wage to appease any notion of inmates getting one over on hard work at the bottom rung but a rate that would possible give a chance for a successful restart.

Re: I worked in federal prison sweatshops for 23 cents an hour

#50

Post by bdcravens »

wizerdrobe wrote: post #49
mindslight wrote: post #40

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think this might be better, for similar reasons as why the daycare that started charging a late fee ended up with more late parents (by moving from a social dynamic to a financial one). If forced labor is just part of the sentence, we can still argue over whether that is unjust punishment or not just like we do with the death penalty. But otherwise that's just how it is. Whereas "paying" inmates tens of cents an ho…

That raises a sticky question of how much is enough relative to the cost of their incarceration. From a pure problem-solving standpoint, we could and probably should raise that rate by a few dollars to be put in a trust disbursed upon release to give inmates a better chance at landing some accommodation and runway to find a proper job, such that “sell drugs” doesn’t become an immediate obvious option. Generously, the…

Additionally, the funds could be applied to restitution and fines.

Of course given fair wages, there would be outcry from the unincarcerated as to why they can't do those jobs for the state.

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