Prison Work

How a Giant Egg Farm Made Money Off Women Prisoners in Dangerous Conditions
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How a Giant Egg Farm Made Money Off Women Prisoners in Dangerous Conditions

1. Mayhem “Everybody who works at Hickman’s, get up! Pack your stuff—you’re being moved today!” Corrections officers swarmed the Santa Rosa Unit at the Perryville women’s prison in Goodyear, Arizona, barking orders and handing out trash bags for belongings. Many women were alarmed. We’re being moved to Hickman’s? How? The officers weren’t sharing a lot…

Inside Louisiana’s forced prison labor and a failed overhaul attempt
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Inside Louisiana’s forced prison labor and a failed overhaul attempt

BATON ROUGE – Breakfast at Louisiana’s state Capitol includes fresh coffee, cookies and egg sandwiches – made and served in part by incarcerated people working for no pay. “They force us to work,” said Jonathan Archille, 29, who is among more than a dozen current and formerly incarcerated people in Louisiana who told the Washington…

Inside Louisiana’s forced prison labor and a failed overhaul attempt
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Inside Louisiana’s forced prison labor and a failed overhaul attempt

BATON ROUGE – Breakfast at Louisiana’s state Capitol includes fresh coffee, cookies and egg sandwiches – made and served in part by incarcerated people working for no pay. “They force us to work,” said Jonathan Archille, 29, who is among more than a dozen current and formerly incarcerated people in Louisiana who told the Washington…

‘You’re a slave’: Inside Louisiana’s forced prison labor and a failed overhaul attempt
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‘You’re a slave’: Inside Louisiana’s forced prison labor and a failed overhaul attempt

BATON ROUGE — Breakfast at Louisiana’s state Capitol includes fresh coffee, cookies and egg sandwiches — made and served in part by incarcerated people working for no pay. “They force us to work,” said Jonathan Archille, 29, who is among more than a dozen current and formerly incarcerated people in Louisiana who told The Washington…

The Case For Taxing Prison Labor
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The Case For Taxing Prison Labor

Stephanie Hunter McMahon of the University of Cincinnati College of Law discusses why labor performed by incarcerated workers should be subject to tax. This transcript has been edited for length and clarity. David D. Stewart: Welcome to the podcast. I’m David Stewart, editor in chief of Tax Notes Today International. This week: prisoners’ dilemma. On…

Four States Vote to Ban Prison Labor and the “Slavery Loophole”
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Four States Vote to Ban Prison Labor and the “Slavery Loophole”

In the lead up to the election, pundits strained themselves bending over backwards to claim that Democrats’ focus on so-called “social issues” leaves them out of touch from the everyday concerns “ordinary” people deal with. But surprise: The results of the 2022 midterms prove otherwise. All five states with abortion on the ballot—California, Michigan, Vermont,…

Voters in five states have the chance to wipe slavery and indentured servitude off the books
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Voters in five states have the chance to wipe slavery and indentured servitude off the books

When slavery was outlawed in the U.S. in 1865, the 13th Amendment included one exception. “Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, except as a punishment for crime whereof the party shall have been duly convicted, shall exist within the United States, or any place subject to their jurisdiction,” the amendment reads. The penalty has remained on…

‘I’m fighting for my life’: Inside Alabama’s prisons during ongoing labor strike
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‘I’m fighting for my life’: Inside Alabama’s prisons during ongoing labor strike

Inside Alabama’s prisons, men and women are refusing to go to work. Now, on day four of a prison labor strike that has garnered national attention, incarcerated people are living on two cold meals a day. The Alabama Department of Corrections switched to this “holiday meal schedule” — serving only breakfast and dinner — on…

Nationwide Movement to End Unpaid Prison Labor Tackles the ‘Slavery Loophole’
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Nationwide Movement to End Unpaid Prison Labor Tackles the ‘Slavery Loophole’

Photo by mksfly via Flickr Incarcerated individuals across the country are forced to work for cents on the dollar, with five states, Alabama, Arkansas, Georgia, Mississippi and Texas, offering no wages, reports the Guardian.  The 13th amendment abolished slavery and involuntary servitude but contained an exception for “a punishment for crime whereof the party shall have…

‘A vestige of slavery’: Why advocates are fighting to make prison labor voluntary
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‘A vestige of slavery’: Why advocates are fighting to make prison labor voluntary

Prisoners making license plates is a popular stereotype, but most of the nation’s 800,000 incarcerated workers hold jobs more similar to those on the outside: They cook and serve food, mop floors, mow lawns, and cut hair. Unlike other workers, though, the incarcerated have little say, if any, in what jobs they do. They face…