5 ms·

Not to mention the prison-industrial complex in the US.

by pk_kinetic 6y ago

threatofrain 6y ago
Where does the wealth from such labor go?
- humbledrone 6y ago
  The shareholders for the private prisons in which they are incarcerated: https://www.currentaffairs.org/2020/10/how-private-prisons-profit-from-forced-labor https://www.currentaffairs.org/2020/10/how-private-prisons-p... :(
  - garrettgrimsley 6y ago
    “In 2015, just 8% of the nearly 1.53 million state and federal prisoners in the U.S. were in private facilities” [0]. Prison slavery is not concentrated in and won’t disappear by closing private prisons. [1] [0]https://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2017/04/11/u-s-private-prison-population-has-declined-in-recent-years/ https://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2017/04/11/u-s-private... [1]https://corpaccountabilitylab.org/calblog/2020/8/5/private-companies-producing-with-us-prison-labor-in-2020-prison-labor-in-the-us-part-ii https://corpaccountabilitylab.org/calblog/2020/8/5/private-c...
- rrsmtz 6y ago
  Sometimes it's used by the state itself for cost savings, as in California under then-attorney general Kamala Harris (now Vice President): > “Extending 2-for-1 credits to all minimum custody inmates at this time would severely impact fire camp participation — a dangerous outcome while California is in the middle of a difficult fire season and severe drought,” lawyers from Harris’s office wrote in a filing. https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/politics/kamala-harris-office-sought-to-keep-inmates-locked-up-so-that-california-could-use-them-for-cheap-labor https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/politics/kamala-harris-of...
- Tiktaalik 6y ago
  The benefits of reduced labour costs are the middle class. Similarly the middle class benefits from the lower working class wages that come from exploitation of illegal immigrants.
  - lupire 6y ago
    Well, the upper middle class who have higher tier jobs. Not the working middle class. (In USA everyone is "middle" class, because most are too proud to have class consciousness.)
stonecraftwolf 6y ago
IIRC the first prison in the US was established in Auburn, NY specifically because slavery had been outlawed and some sociopath was like “ok, yeah, technically, but if we just convict them of a crime first...”
- ceejayoz 6y ago
  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Louisiana_State_Penitentiary https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Louisiana_State_Penitentiary serves as a notable modern example.
- lupire 6y ago
  No. The Auburn prison was not the first prison, and it employed prisoner slave labor before slavery was outlawed. Prison slavery existed before chattel slavery was rerouted through the prison system. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Auburn_system https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Auburn_system
boxmonster 6y ago
I see nothing wrong with making prisoners earn their keep
- trianglem 6y ago
  When they work for a $1/hr and put actual contractors out of business you understand why it’s like slave labor.
- Animats 6y ago
  Even Alcatraz didn't do that. "You are entitled to food, clothing, shelter, and medical care. Everything else is a privilege" - Alcatraz rules.
- michaelmrose 6y ago
  Private businesses pay private prisons far more than the prisoners get paid but less than legit labor driving out fairly paid labor. Everyone who is benefiting lobbies far stricter laws and harsher sentences not for societies benefit but so their labor force can grow. This slave labor is disproportionately taken from minorities and the poor who it is more acceptable to enslave. Mostly by patrolling areas which have lots of minorities and shaking them down in hopes of finding drugs. See the fact that black and white people do drugs at the same rate but white people are far less likely to be prosecuted. In one case they actually caught 2 judges taking bribes from private detention to hand juvenile offenders maximum sentences. Effectively selling other people's kids. Banning private prisons only removes a fraction of the incentive.
  - lupire 6y ago
    It's not just private prisons. Public prisons also sieze prisoner labor for sale to private customers or for government work like makit license plates.
- jnsie 6y ago
  The cash doesn’t refund taxes used to pay for said incarceration, to my knowledge. I don’t see how they are earning their keep.
- 6y ago
AndyMcConachie 6y ago
You can buy products from American prison slaves here. https://unicor.gov/index.aspx https://unicor.gov/index.aspx
goatinaboat 6y ago
Not to mention the prison-industrial complex in the US. Kept well supplied with labour thanks to Kamala Harris and her draconian persecution of marijuana related “crimes”.

Not to mention the prison-industrial complex in the US.

threatofrain 6y ago

Where does the wealth from such labor go?

humbledrone 6y ago
The shareholders for the private prisons in which they are incarcerated: https://www.currentaffairs.org/2020/10/how-private-prisons-profit-from-forced-labor https://www.currentaffairs.org/2020/10/how-private-prisons-p... :(
- garrettgrimsley 6y ago
  “In 2015, just 8% of the nearly 1.53 million state and federal prisoners in the U.S. were in private facilities” [0]. Prison slavery is not concentrated in and won’t disappear by closing private prisons. [1] [0]https://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2017/04/11/u-s-private-prison-population-has-declined-in-recent-years/ https://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2017/04/11/u-s-private... [1]https://corpaccountabilitylab.org/calblog/2020/8/5/private-companies-producing-with-us-prison-labor-in-2020-prison-labor-in-the-us-part-ii https://corpaccountabilitylab.org/calblog/2020/8/5/private-c...
rrsmtz 6y ago
Sometimes it's used by the state itself for cost savings, as in California under then-attorney general Kamala Harris (now Vice President): > “Extending 2-for-1 credits to all minimum custody inmates at this time would severely impact fire camp participation — a dangerous outcome while California is in the middle of a difficult fire season and severe drought,” lawyers from Harris’s office wrote in a filing. https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/politics/kamala-harris-office-sought-to-keep-inmates-locked-up-so-that-california-could-use-them-for-cheap-labor https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/politics/kamala-harris-of...
Tiktaalik 6y ago
The benefits of reduced labour costs are the middle class. Similarly the middle class benefits from the lower working class wages that come from exploitation of illegal immigrants.
- lupire 6y ago
  Well, the upper middle class who have higher tier jobs. Not the working middle class. (In USA everyone is "middle" class, because most are too proud to have class consciousness.)

stonecraftwolf 6y ago

IIRC the first prison in the US was established in Auburn, NY specifically because slavery had been outlawed and some sociopath was like “ok, yeah, technically, but if we just convict them of a crime first...”

ceejayoz 6y ago
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Louisiana_State_Penitentiary https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Louisiana_State_Penitentiary serves as a notable modern example.
lupire 6y ago
No. The Auburn prison was not the first prison, and it employed prisoner slave labor before slavery was outlawed. Prison slavery existed before chattel slavery was rerouted through the prison system. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Auburn_system https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Auburn_system

boxmonster 6y ago

I see nothing wrong with making prisoners earn their keep

trianglem 6y ago
When they work for a $1/hr and put actual contractors out of business you understand why it’s like slave labor.
Animats 6y ago
Even Alcatraz didn't do that. "You are entitled to food, clothing, shelter, and medical care. Everything else is a privilege" - Alcatraz rules.
michaelmrose 6y ago
Private businesses pay private prisons far more than the prisoners get paid but less than legit labor driving out fairly paid labor. Everyone who is benefiting lobbies far stricter laws and harsher sentences not for societies benefit but so their labor force can grow. This slave labor is disproportionately taken from minorities and the poor who it is more acceptable to enslave. Mostly by patrolling areas which have lots of minorities and shaking them down in hopes of finding drugs. See the fact that black and white people do drugs at the same rate but white people are far less likely to be prosecuted. In one case they actually caught 2 judges taking bribes from private detention to hand juvenile offenders maximum sentences. Effectively selling other people's kids. Banning private prisons only removes a fraction of the incentive.
- lupire 6y ago
  It's not just private prisons. Public prisons also sieze prisoner labor for sale to private customers or for government work like makit license plates.
jnsie 6y ago
The cash doesn’t refund taxes used to pay for said incarceration, to my knowledge. I don’t see how they are earning their keep.
6y ago

AndyMcConachie 6y ago

You can buy products from American prison slaves here. https://unicor.gov/index.aspx https://unicor.gov/index.aspx

goatinaboat 6y ago

Not to mention the prison-industrial complex in the US. Kept well supplied with labour thanks to Kamala Harris and her draconian persecution of marijuana related “crimes”.