Why can't we use prison inmates as free labor?

[pupluv45]

after all, you're spending billions of dollars feeding , clothing, washing, toiletting them. you might as well make use of them. if they worked, won't our cost of living decrease?

[Soteris]

They do. If you read the constitution of USA then you will see that slavery is prohibited, except for the single exception of putting prisoners into slave labor. Yes, slavery is alive and well in USA with around 800 000 slaves producing an estimated 11 billion dollars in GDP. Of course, you dont get to see the benefits of this, its primarily for the benefit of the rich to get even richer through cheap labor and if anything you have to pay for the injuries and such caused by putting said slavery workforce into hazardous work.

It is also a pretty bad idea overall. The primary goal of a prison should be to reduce future crime. Something you have limited time to do depending on their sentencing so having them work a 9-5 work would be counter productive to getting them reformed and would just mean that they would get sent back to prison later from their next crime not to mention any new criminals this broken system caused overall.

So yeah, it exists, its VERY productive (for certain people) and it is costing the country even more money in more crime and having to treat the prisoners after they are injured or whatever. Not a very good idea compared to actually successful models.

[virtue2332]

There needs to be a better system in place than what currently is going on. I happen to have family members and friends in prison. I grew up around it and these are som intelligent and loyal people that looked out for me growing up. Growing up in that enviornment the temptation is strong. Especially when thats what you know and aren't aware of the opportunites that are available. Even more when you need resources to feed the family and keep a roof over your head. As far as free labor is a kin to slavery. I know they did the crime now its time to pay up but facts are innocent people get rolled up as well. I've spent a couple of days in and its not as easy or resource friendly to prove it was a mistake on their part. Fortunatley I'm a Veteran and had resources that allowed me to get out and prove that they were wrong. Another thing to consider is their are some bad people that are probably never going to change thier ways in the system because thats all they know. If given the chance to mess up they probably will. We probably don't want them in a less controlled enviornment plotting thier next move.

[Anonymous]

I work in a prison. Inmates are routinely assigned jobs within the facility but you can’t use them in the private sector in any way. It’s viewed as slave labor and you probably don’t want them taking jobs from working people either.

[Anonymous]

no, inflation would be even more out of control because everyone would have high paying jobs, and not the low paying jobs that no one wants and are given to those prisoners.

[OlderAndWiser]

1. They could not be used as labor for private enterprise.

2. There are costs involved with supervising, transporting, and feeding prisoners outside of the prison. It is not "free" labor.

3. I would expect that inmate labor does not provide consisent quality, and it is rarely skilled labor.

[OfMiceandMen]

I've always liked the idea of making the inmates work for us in some capacity. They did a crime and they are suppose to pay their debt back to the people they wronged and their debt to society. Why not make them work it off.

Right now, society is paying for them and they aren't doing anything to pay for their crime other than sitting in prison wasting away. At least, if they worked their debt off to a certain point, those skills could go on a resume to demonstrate they can be reintegrated back into society.

There are tons of jobs out there that they could do, that doesn't compete with industry.

[Chazmatazz269]

Corporations DO make use of prison labor. Due to various laws, it’s not free. It is however not only a great deal cheaper than employing “at will” workers because they are paid far less than minimum wages, but arguably unethical because the inmates often have no choice in the matter. If it weren’t for the nominal pay, it would absolutely be considered slavery by any rational standard.
I’m on the pro side of this debate. Don’t want to be enslaved? Sweet! DON’T break the law. Easy breezy!

[genericname85]

hat's exactly what's happening. they are paid a little for the labour they do. far less than in the free market. but they still gotta be paid "something", cause slavery is outlawed. also they still gotta pay up after they went to prison. going to prison isn't a free service.

[bean2k21]

Actually, enslaving criminals is not against the law in the U. S., according to the 13th amendment.

[genericname85]

@bean2k21 yeah i bet the American law is not any more complex than the 7 original constitutional articles and the 27 amendments dude.

[genericname85]

and i'm sure there's absolutely no problem whatsoever with a privately owned and run prison industrial complex getting free labour.

[bean2k21]

You make it sound as if prisoners have to be paid something because slavery is outlawed. That's not the case. The exception to the prohibition of slavery and involuntary servitude allows for individuals who have been convicted of a crime to be incarcerated and to be required to perform labor or other duties as part of their punishment. Whether they are paid and how much they are paid varies by jurisdiction. And yes, Yes, privately owned companies do employ prisoners in some instances. These companies contract with prisons or correction departments to provide labor for a variety of tasks, such as manufacturing, agriculture, or call center work. Why do you think we shot Abraham Lincoln and passed so many laws in the South against the black man? To make him a criminal and keep slavery alive.

[TheVigilantFox]

Would you want murderers and rapists and child molestors free in society? I’m sure I wouldn’t,


The only thing they’re good for is test subjects for new medications or to use as crash test dummies.

[pupluv45]

they can work in prison. it will lower our cost of living.

[TheVigilantFox]

Prisoners already do work in prison. 🤦🏽‍♂️

[John-E_63]

I'm sure all the sleazy lawyers protecting their clients lobbied Washington D. C for congress to pass a law protecting prison inmates from being used for free labor. But I agree regardless of whether it is or not, they should be used, they are in prison to serve time for the crime they did, it shouldn't make any difference how they are used to serve that time at the cost of the tax-payers who work hard for the life they live, which can't and shouldn't be said for criminals.

[Dargil]

They do in a prison setting. Cooking, floor polishing, even making license plates. But slave labor in industry like IG Farben did with Jews in Nazi Germany would qualify as cruel and unusual punishment.

[Pyrofox]

A lot of prisons due but. It's mostly limited to the few community service programs. And typically it's only those who didn't ya know commit mass homicide or serial homicide.

[lucasnabizada]

The 13 Amendment of the Constitution against slavery and endangered servitude. You don't force people to work against their will... lol

[NamerOfStars]

Tell that to the SS!

[pupluv45]

the amendments has been changed 77 times.

[lucasnabizada]

The 13th Amendment was never changed... The constitution was amended to include the 13th Amendment... Stop saying dumb things

[bean2k21]

@lucasnabizada You have no idea what you're talking about. The 13th amendment allows the enslavement of criminals.

[KostasKouvalis]

We do. They use non-violent offenders serving short sentences for janitorial work like trash pick-up and tree cutting. But if we did that with the majority of prisoners they would try to escape or harm someone.

[FilmGuy93]

Because they have rights, as people. Prisoners are currently used for extremely cheap labor as it is.

[Texaskid1]

Because we have Chinese workers who work hard for 6 dollars a day so we can have smart phones and laptops for cheap.

[KrakenAttackin]

This was ruled unlawful as it created an incentive for corrupt Sheriffs to fill the jails when city work needed to be done.

[Anonymous]

Liberalism hence why they all protest and are happy to do time

[YourToy69]

Times are different after leftist control our lives

[WhitneySnow]

Thirteenth Amendment prohibits slavery

[pupluv45]

we can change the 13th amendment

[CAPTAIN-OBVIOUS]

Lol you realize what would happen if we changed the 13th amendment

[pupluv45]

@CAPTAIN-OBVIOUS

we have actually changed the amendment before.

[CAPTAIN-OBVIOUS]

Not to the point where we can now have slaves again

[pupluv45]

@CAPTAIN-OBVIOUS

It has become the landmark legal document of the Western world, and is the oldest written national constitution currently in effect. The Constitution has been amended 27 times, most recently in 1992, although there have been over 11,000 amendments proposed since 1789.

www.senate.gov/.../Constitution_vrd.htm

[CAPTAIN-OBVIOUS]

Just sounds terrible to use prisoners for slave labor. They obviously have problems within themselves they need to work on first.

[pupluv45]

@CAPTAIN-OBVIOUS

sweetie, prisoners tend to never recover. its the very same people going in and out of prison.

[CAPTAIN-OBVIOUS]

They tend to never recover so let’s make their situation worse?

[pupluv45]

@CAPTAIN-OBVIOUS

i think its worse to just waste billions of dollars locking the same people up over and over again. we can really lower our cost of living putting these lazy good for nothings to work. it will make a better society

[CAPTAIN-OBVIOUS]

Their lives matter too!

[pupluv45]

@CAPTAIN-OBVIOUS

its not about their lives. its about the bettering society.

[pupluv45]

@CAPTAIN-OBVIOUS

they can't ever recover. forgetting about letting them recover. if you have ever worked with criminals, you would know vast majority of them won't make decent employees any way. A lot of them suffer from anti social personality disorder. A lot of them don't even want to recover

[CAPTAIN-OBVIOUS]

I live around criminals! I was raised in the ghetto and they are people that just need opportunities. They aren’t stupid or doomed for life. They can change

[pupluv45]

@CAPTAIN-OBVIOUS

would you hire someone who was accused of stealing? no

I grew up in the ghettos too. I can garuantee that the last person on earth I would hire is someone from the ghetto.

uneducated, rude, anti-social personality disorder, sociopathic, can't even speak English properly.

and you ask why they can't get anything better than a job at McDonalds.

[pupluv45]

@CAPTAIN-OBVIOUS

even McDonalds doesn't want to hire a lot of these people.

[CAPTAIN-OBVIOUS]

Can’t even speak English properly? What do you mean?

[CAPTAIN-OBVIOUS]

Yes I would hire them and take a chance to try to change his life

[pupluv45]

@CAPTAIN-OBVIOUS

because a lot of them don't care to change their lives. the ones you are talking about changing lives is very very few. most ghetto people don't want to work hard in life.

[pupluv45]

@CAPTAIN-OBVIOUS

My parents immigrated to this country with no money in their pockets. I was born in the ghettos because my parents couldn't afford to live anywhere else. My family was attacked , mocked, robbed relentlessly when I was a little kid. I ended up getting two college degrees, moved out of the hood.

Its totally possible if you work hard. This is land of opportunity.

[CAPTAIN-OBVIOUS]

Where did you come from

[pupluv45]

@CAPTAIN-OBVIOUS

im Asian

do well in school. you won't regret it.

[Gummy_Cluster]

Because liberalism is a mental disorder.

[Wade12345]

I agree whole heartedly.

[tfan1]

Watch the Shawshank Redemption 🙂

[BJP21]

Its against labor law.