Time to change the 13th amendment, re: prison labor? (drug, statistics, Brown)
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If your typical over-sheltered, over-sanitized suburbanites had a clearer understanding of how much of the "scut-work" at attractions such as Disney World is performed by inmates on work-release, I suspect that their enthusiasm for the Magic Kingdom would diminish considerably.
Life on the lowest rungs of the socio-economic ladder might no longer resemble the scenes depicted in films such as Cool Hand Luke, but global economic forces are going to intensify the difficulty in filling the roles nobody wants.
Prison labor is, and always was, a convenient way to capitalize on a the fact of there being a population without political voice whose labor could be had for a pittance. From the famous Angola farms in Louisiana to the modern day prison machining/fabrication centers, prisons have been utilized as a quasi legitimate source of damn near free labor, and thus, a major hotbed of political/corporate corruption.
There has been a ton of speculation as to just what prisoners should/could do without becoming a competing labor force which works against the interests of who are free and law abiding. Education has been a sore subject when it arrives in the form of rehab for prisoners, the lamenting of a "free" education for criminals has stopped many a good program from continuing.
Punishment has been the most favorable treatment regimen in most of our prisons, so, "doing time" becomes it's own punishment, The trouble with that lies in the fact that these people eventually get out, and they are in no shape to be in a productive role in society and usually and up in prison again or needing a ton of aid in order to live on the outside.
Highly regulated forms of prison labor should be a better solution, and on that note, non profits should be the sole recipients of any labor garnered under the exclusionary aspect of our laws with respect to convict labor. In the pursuit of more humane treatment of prisoners we apparently went a bit overboard and created a dangerous situation to fester, meaningful work is one of the missing pieces in the development of many a criminal, and for that reason, work should be a requirement of all those in the general prison population.
It'll never happen. Your ideas are entirely too fair, reasonable, and compassionate, and carry with them too great a risk of successful rehabilitation for said prisoners.
We might as well be Ferengi. Really. We as a nation are that greedy, selfish, and dishonest.
PS - this is already a problem in CA, where the vast majority of the workforce to keep their yearly forest fires in check are prisoners. Most of CA would go up in smoke without free prison labor. At least that is a public service, but unfortunately a very dangerous way to NOT get training that could lead to an actual job. Someone with a criminal record is not going to pass the background check to become a "real" fireman on the outside.
Ever hear of highways and roads built by chain gangs?
Or roadsides beautified by chain gangs? I see the women's prison chain gang all the time going to work cleaning up road-sides. Who else is going to do that? The wind kicks up so much garbage and tumbleweeds as is, then add in weeds that need to get wacked and you have a job. Plus is some places, prison labor is paid less than minimum wage or even minimum wage.
PS - this is already a problem in CA, where the vast majority of the workforce to keep their yearly forest fires in check are prisoners. Most of CA would go up in smoke without free prison labor. At least that is a public service, but unfortunately a very dangerous way to NOT get training that could lead to an actual job. Someone with a criminal record is not going to pass the background check to become a "real" fireman on the outside.
How about giving prisoners work references and trying to get them into post-prison jobs?
I agree with others about the punishment.
American slavery was technically abolished in 1865, but a loophole in the 13th Amendment (see section 1) has allowed it to continue "as a punishment for crimes" well into the 21st century. Since United States has the largest incarcerated population in the world,(we now incarcerate more than 2.2 million people - what a workforce!), prison labor helps tremendously produce goods and services for almost every big business in the US. The private contracting of prisoners for work fosters incentives to lock people up. Prisons depend on this income. The privately run prison industry, which feeds on mass incarceration, is one of the fastest growing and widest reaching of U.S. industries.
Wal-Mart purchases its produce from prison farms, where laborers are often subjected to long hours in the blazing heat without adequate food or water. Prisoner make your car license plates, traffic signs, your jeans, most of the work uniforms, raise tilapia in their farms, work with cattle, meat packaging, some of the "Victoria Secret" lingerie is made in prisons, they work in call centers for $2/a day, cleanup toxic spills, etc... etc. They even have convict-leasing programs, for a leasing fee.
And while goal is to reduce operational costs by having prisoners produce their own food, the prison system admittedly earns revenue from sales of surplus agricultural production, and other goods.
Some very reputable US companies use prisoners on a regular basis. Boycott Companies That Use Prison Labor - Companies | Buycott
Prison administrators have very large, long standing private contracts that has to be fulfilled, so in their very own interest is to have the prisons always full of cheap labor. All in name of rehabilitation or even redemption. For the tycoons who have invested in the prison industry, it has been like finding a pot of gold. Punishment for profit: The economics of mass incarceration – Workers World
And prisoners work, because they don't have a choice, and because they need the money to buy some basic necessities, pay legal fees, or help support their families.
In places like Texas, prison work is mandatory and unpaid – the literal definition of slave labor.
However, while working "for pennies" many prisoners learn the trade. They also have an option to participate in therapy, and generally, advanced education is also available. And as we all well know, some prisons are pretty luxurious - with tv's, well equipped gym, and other activities.
Time to change the 13th amendment? Sure, but it's not going to happen. Not anytime soon. Too many big, powerful companies are involved in prison labor. The system is just too immense, to important, too profitable - virtually all the corporate establishment sharks are in a feeding frenzy over the profits to be made off of punishment.
I agree with others about the punishment.
American slavery was technically abolished in 1865, but a loophole in the 13th Amendment (see section 1) has allowed it to continue "as a punishment for crimes" well into the 21st century. Since United States has the largest incarcerated population in the world,(we now incarcerate more than 2.2 million people - what a workforce!), prison labor helps tremendously produce goods and services for almost every big business in the US. The private contracting of prisoners for work fosters incentives to lock people up. Prisons depend on this income. The privately run prison industry, which feeds on mass incarceration, is one of the fastest growing and widest reaching of U.S. industries.
Wal-Mart purchases its produce from prison farms, where laborers are often subjected to long hours in the blazing heat without adequate food or water. Prisoner make your car license plates, traffic signs, your jeans, most of the work uniforms, raise tilapia in their farms, work with cattle, meat packaging, some of the "Victoria Secret" lingerie is made in prisons, they work in call centers for $2/a day, cleanup toxic spills, etc... etc. They even have convict-leasing programs, for a leasing fee.
And while goal is to reduce operational costs by having prisoners produce their own food, the prison system admittedly earns revenue from sales of surplus agricultural production, and other goods.
Some very reputable US companies use prisoners on a regular basis. Boycott Companies That Use Prison Labor - Companies | Buycott
Prison administrators have very large, long standing private contracts that has to be fulfilled, so in their very own interest is to have the prisons always full of cheap labor. All in name of rehabilitation or even redemption. For the tycoons who have invested in the prison industry, it has been like finding a pot of gold. Punishment for profit: The economics of mass incarceration – Workers World
And prisoners work, because they don't have a choice, and because they need the money to buy some basic necessities, pay legal fees, or help support their families.
In places like Texas, prison work is mandatory and unpaid – the literal definition of slave labor.
However, while working "for pennies" many prisoners learn the trade. They also have an option to participate in therapy, and generally, advanced education is also available. And as we all well know, some prisons are pretty luxurious - with tv's, well equipped gym, and other activities.
Time to change the 13th amendment? Sure, but it's not going to happen. Not anytime soon. Too many big, powerful companies are involved in prison labor. The system is just too immense, to important, too profitable - virtually all the corporate establishment sharks are in a feeding frenzy over the profits to be made off of punishment.
The answer is simple- the convicts should unionize. No, wait, then the quality of goods will go down....
JMHO
If you don't think its fair then stay out of prison.
Easier said than done, given anyone posting on this thread could end up in prison, I included, as we can't escape the fact that To Err Is To Be Human!
"I've driven that road hundreds of times, day and night, and never did I see a pedestrian use that crosswalk, and? Tonite was the night! That body must have flown 40 feet into the air! And, horror of horrors, she was 5 months pregnant!
Involuntary manslaughter?
And how many of us have been tested, really tested, as to what our breaking points are? And that's an unknown to most of us!
The smartest criminals will never see the insides of prison, and they read True Crime books with laughter and head shaking!
There's always ways to keep prisons filled, as the lobbying prison unions will see to that! Too many empty beds, elevate a misdemeanor to a felony, toughen the laws on smoking or even jaywalking, or whatever. And given that a college degree gives you a license to steal legally, well then, make some of those practices illegal!
I'm opposed to using inmates for working, unless they volunteer for it, and even if they do acquire some skills in prison, who's going to hire them with a record? Any number of them will end up homeless, and there we go: $42,500 yearly cost to taxpayers, nationwide average, to keep one homeless person on our streets!
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