Labor, slave? indentured? coerced?

[Clodfobble]

Originally Posted by DanaC

Alternatively - the state could offer this job, at minimum wage to unemployed jobseekers.

Not only are they exploiting the prisoners (some of whom may genuinely want to do this - so it ain't black and white really) but they are denying proper paid work to the unemployed.

It's a fallacy that there are lots of unemployed willing to do this kind of work. Lots of unemployed, yes, but not willing to do this. This has been proven this over and over again, most recently in a "Take Our Jobs" campaign where any American could walk onto a farm and be given a migrant farm worker's job on the spot, no training, no productivity requirements, no questions asked, just a salary at the end of the day. No one, and I mean no one except the already-employed who were interested in the campaign or looking to prove a point for a day, took them up on it.

We've had several people on the cellar who were unemployed for very long periods of time, and not once were any of them so bad off that they had to take a manual labor job.

Originally Posted by sexobon

The State pays for their incarceration and the taxpayers fund the State. If neither is permitted to recoup some of that loss through services rendered, services that the State would have to pay others to do with taxpayers funding, then the State and taxpayers should be able to deduct from prisoners' wages the full cost of their incarceration.

I'm pretty sure this is how they originally came up with the $2/day figure. Also, if a prisoner has been assessed a civil fine, such as compensation to the family of the guy he murdered, his wages will often be garnished towards paying that fine as well.

[Gravdigr]

I can understand someone not wanting to do hard, excruciating, back-breaking manual labor for chicken feed. All the jobs I've ever had that paid a decent wage were "manual labor", though.

Didn't kill me. Didn't like it a whole lot, but, it didn't kill me.

A lot of folks these days won't have anything to do with manual labor. It's beneath them. They prefer Manuel labor.

[sexobon]

Originally Posted by Clodfobble

... I'm pretty sure this is how they originally came up with the $2/day figure. ...

I'm waiting for someone to suggest that the State/taxpayers provide a pension fund for career criminals imprisoned for an aggregate 20 years or more. Better total compensation packages for prisoners is the only way to keep the privatized prison industry free of exploitation dontcha know.

[xoxoxoBruce]

Originally Posted by DanaC

Someone help me there, i can't recall the details).

Kids for cash.