why can't prisoners work while incarcerated ?

05-28-2002, 05:19 PM

I know some of y'all know...

:nod:

SPOCAHP ANAR · 05-28-2002, 05:34 PM

They use Inmate labor at the DOT and for roadside cleanups. I have also seen them in SC picking up trash.

Of course these are the less violent criminals. They ought to make thier priveleges based on their work effort.

Shaun · 05-28-2002, 05:37 PM

They escape all the time around here I doubt the State Prisoner's know what work is. Of course one of our state prisons is across the river from the local trap club I thought about proposing an idea of setting up a rifle range (long Distance) with the Recreation yard for the Prisoners as a backstop -- for some reason nobody likes the idea it could save tax payers and provide a challenging facility.

Doglips · 05-28-2002, 05:53 PM

In Florida they have the PRIDE program (Prison Indrustries)...they make furniture....prison uniforms and refurbish veichels for sale overseas....there is some federal law that the inmates can not compete with privet owned companies...in Florida the inmates are paid like .25 or .75 cents per hour so they could underbid people who have to pay real wages for labor. Theses PRIDE programs are in prisons through out Florida...mainly medium and maxim prisons...the inmate we use on road crews are in a work camp program...low risk of escape...almost released ect....its a steping stone to a "Work Release" program. In work release the inmates go to regular jobs ...usaly dish washers or construction....are driven and picked up by inmate drivers useing a DOC van...there $$ goes towards restatution and child support...some goes into a trust fund for when they get out.
I worked as a substance abuse counselor in the prison system...max security life or longer sentence inmates and also a work release program so thats how I learned all this stuff.

The only problem I see with useing inmate labor is that it would be hard for real companies to compete with free labor or sub minamum wage labor...

But on a final note there are 2 million Adults in American prisons...jails...probation, parol and juvinels are not part of that number....do the math it cost around $50,000 per year to keep someone in prison........the cost goes up for inmates with expensive medical conditions..Aids..cancer..elderly ect....(They get some realy good medical care due to law suits) how long can we afford to keep theses inmates and the ever growing # locked up? Soner or later its going to bankrupt us.....(Ok before someone says death row most inmates die of natural causes on death row due to appeals and stays),

SPOCAHP ANAR · 05-28-2002, 07:53 PM

TYhis was an underlying theme in shawshank redemption Doglips

NRAJOE · 05-28-2002, 07:58 PM

EVERYTHING THEY MAKE SHOULD GO TOWARDS RESTITUTION, EVERY CRIME COSTS SOMEONE SOMETHING!

05-28-2002, 08:30 PM

I think they ought to pay the prison's overhead before they get ambitious about restitution...

colt45 · 05-28-2002, 10:42 PM

If we really want to get something out of these scum bags, Privatize the prisons, let them set up some sort of manufacturing and let the prison keep all the $ to pay for houseing medical care and reedgucation of the inmates, for each hour the inmate works a small portion goes tword restitution.
If they refuse to work and payback thier dept to society or at least thier own room and board they get shot. sounds simple enough to me.
I rather buy something that said made in adica than made in japan.

05-29-2002, 05:16 PM

The prisoners in my state who work are jail inmates not prison inmates...Community service & work release type stuff. an awful lot of roadgangs.

EZ1 · 05-29-2002, 09:25 PM

You cant force them to work, against their Civil Rights, Probably didnt work before they got there, also it is CRUEL AND UNUSUAL punishment,

05-29-2002, 09:35 PM

I have to work at least 40 hours a week...nothing cruel & unusual about that.

Hank Springer · 05-30-2002, 03:33 PM

The twenty six thousand acre Parchman State Penitentiary, in Mississippi, used to be largest farm in the entire world. The inmates produced cotton as a cash crop while growing and processing all the vegetables and meat that was used by the prison population as well as several state owned hospitals. The prison was not only self supporting, but paid money into the state treasury.
One day some bleading heart, liberal democrats decided that it is cruel to make the prisoners work. As the result of their efforts the prison farm was closed down and the people of the State of Mississippi began to pick up the tab for housing and caring for the prisoners, as well as paying more to operate the state hospitals.
The reason for the action of the liberals is obvious. After all, who votes democrat?
Parchman once had the reputation of not having comebacks. Once a man did time at Parchman he didn't want to repeat it, so he avoided breaking the law in the State of Mississippi. Now the prisoners say they have it better in jail than out and don't mind comming back at all.

08-04-2004, 05:34 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Hank Springer

The twenty six thousand acre Parchman State Penitentiary, in Mississippi, used to be largest farm in the entire world. The inmates produced cotton as a cash crop while growing and processing all the vegetables and meat that was used by the prison population as well as several state owned hospitals. The prison was not only self supporting, but paid money into the state treasury.
One day some bleading heart, liberal democrats decided that it is cruel to make the prisoners work. As the result of their efforts the prison farm was closed down and the people of the State of Mississippi began to pick up the tab for housing and caring for the prisoners, as well as paying more to operate the state hospitals.
The reason for the action of the liberals is obvious. After all, who votes democrat?
Parchman once had the reputation of not having comebacks. Once a man did time at Parchman he didn't want to repeat it, so he avoided breaking the law in the State of Mississippi. Now the prisoners say they have it better in jail than out and don't mind comming back at all.

sounds like a good idea

Big Dog · 08-04-2004, 06:30 PM

Here in Florida, the PRIDE program DL spoke of is a major supplier of materiel to the State agencies. Much of our office supplies, even desks, chairs and bookcases, are made by PRIDE.
We were moving a PRIDE-manufactured bookcase during our move last year - one floor to another. Got the danged thing up to the new digs - then - with a loud clash and clatter - it literally fell apart! The danged Cons had stapled the boards together!! :insane:
Yep, those contracts always go to the lowest bidder - quality be-!!!!ed.

NRAJOE · 08-04-2004, 07:11 PM

Someones bored....

08-04-2004, 09:06 PM

http://www.fplao.org/FloridaPrisonFAQs.html

whirlwind · 08-04-2004, 09:08 PM

if the state programs arent mandatory they should be! what ever happened to "hard labor"? heck if the prison their in doesnt have manufacturing,let the little criminal bastages make lil ones outa big ones for the complete time their there! just think what a boom that would be to the music industry! the blues would make a comeback! maybe thats why the blues as a style hasnt grown since the 60's? they had no motivation...no frame of referance! :guitar:

BattleRifleG3 · 08-04-2004, 10:54 PM

Involuntary servitude (slavery) is prohibited by the 13th Amendment "EXCEPT AS PUNISHMENT FOR A CRIME FOR WHICH THE ACCUSED HATH BEEN DULY CONVICTED."

Since prisons are by nature run by the government, inmates work should be used to defray our taxes that we otherwise pay for their incarceration.

08-05-2004, 07:09 PM

Amen BRG3 ! :right:

stangman · 08-09-2004, 01:15 AM

Hi again Logansdad, as you could tell from the previous posts most inmates in most states do indeed work, either as "trustee's, work camps, road crews and such. Most of the inmates that do earn money, do indeed have to use a portion of their pay for restitution and of course fees,fines & costs. Most of these are paid though after release to Community Corrections, Work Release, Parole or what-ever the case may be. As for "cruel & unusual punishment" to make inmates work, well, the Supreme Court has upheld the use of inmate labor, in a humane usage. Even the U.S. Constitution states that the usage of inmates for labor. The 16th Admendment- abolition of slavery- that persons of the US can not be used, or sold as slaves except those sentenced for felonious crimes. Of course we can't and won't treat inmates as slaves because of how abhorent it is to Americans and stands against the very ideals of our nation.

05-28-2002, 05:19 PM	#1
Logansdad Guest Posts: n/a	why can't prisoners work while incarcerated ? I know some of y'all know... :nod:

05-28-2002, 05:34 PM	#2
SPOCAHP ANAR Senior Member Join Date: Mar 2002 Location: SC-upstate Posts: 4,192 Images: 1 Blog Entries: 6	They do around here They use Inmate labor at the DOT and for roadside cleanups. I have also seen them in SC picking up trash. Of course these are the less violent criminals. They ought to make thier priveleges based on their work effort. __________________ Spocrest Out!..........

05-28-2002, 05:37 PM	#3
Shaun Super Moderator Join Date: Mar 2002 Location: Nashville, TN Posts: 8,619 Images: 1	They escape all the time around here I doubt the State Prisoner's know what work is. Of course one of our state prisons is across the river from the local trap club I thought about proposing an idea of setting up a rifle range (long Distance) with the Recreation yard for the Prisoners as a backstop -- for some reason nobody likes the idea it could save tax payers and provide a challenging facility. __________________ "Homeland Security is the responsibility of an armed citizen" ME http://webpages.charter.net/s.s.v/

05-28-2002, 07:53 PM	#5
SPOCAHP ANAR Senior Member Join Date: Mar 2002 Location: SC-upstate Posts: 4,192 Images: 1 Blog Entries: 6	Shawshank redemption TYhis was an underlying theme in shawshank redemption Doglips __________________ Spocrest Out!..........

05-28-2002, 07:58 PM	#6
NRAJOE Senior Member Join Date: Apr 2002 Location: Toledo,OH Posts: 19,252 Images: 3	EVERYTHING THEY MAKE SHOULD GO TOWARDS RESTITUTION, EVERY CRIME COSTS SOMEONE SOMETHING! __________________ U.S. Army 1976-1979 237th Combat Engineers Heilbronn, Germany

05-28-2002, 05:53 PM	#4
Doglips Senior Member Join Date: Mar 2002 Location: Cocoa Florida Posts: 9,088	In Florida they have the PRIDE program (Prison Indrustries)...they make furniture....prison uniforms and refurbish veichels for sale overseas....there is some federal law that the inmates can not compete with privet owned companies...in Florida the inmates are paid like .25 or .75 cents per hour so they could underbid people who have to pay real wages for labor. Theses PRIDE programs are in prisons through out Florida...mainly medium and maxim prisons...the inmate we use on road crews are in a work camp program...low risk of escape...almost released ect....its a steping stone to a "Work Release" program. In work release the inmates go to regular jobs ...usaly dish washers or construction....are driven and picked up by inmate drivers useing a DOC van...there $$ goes towards restatution and child support...some goes into a trust fund for when they get out. I worked as a substance abuse counselor in the prison system...max security life or longer sentence inmates and also a work release program so thats how I learned all this stuff. The only problem I see with useing inmate labor is that it would be hard for real companies to compete with free labor or sub minamum wage labor... But on a final note there are 2 million Adults in American prisons...jails...probation, parol and juvinels are not part of that number....do the math it cost around $50,000 per year to keep someone in prison........the cost goes up for inmates with expensive medical conditions..Aids..cancer..elderly ect....(They get some realy good medical care due to law suits) how long can we afford to keep theses inmates and the ever growing # locked up? Soner or later its going to bankrupt us.....(Ok before someone says death row most inmates die of natural causes on death row due to appeals and stays),

05-28-2002, 08:30 PM	#7
Logansdad Guest Posts: n/a	I think they ought to pay the prison's overhead before they get ambitious about restitution...

05-28-2002, 10:42 PM	#8
colt45 Senior Member Join Date: Mar 2002 Location: Occupied Territories of New York (Buffalo) Posts: 2,898	If we really want to get something out of these scum bags, Privatize the prisons, let them set up some sort of manufacturing and let the prison keep all the $ to pay for houseing medical care and reedgucation of the inmates, for each hour the inmate works a small portion goes tword restitution. If they refuse to work and payback thier dept to society or at least thier own room and board they get shot. sounds simple enough to me. I rather buy something that said made in adica than made in japan. __________________ "A fear of weapons is a sign of retarded sexual and emotional maturity" -Sigmund Freud, General Introduction to Psychoanalysis "If guns cause crime, all of mine are defective." - Ted Nugent "Self-defense is Nature's eldest law." -John Dryden

05-29-2002, 05:16 PM	#9
Logansdad Guest Posts: n/a	The prisoners in my state who work are jail inmates not prison inmates...Community service & work release type stuff. an awful lot of roadgangs.

05-29-2002, 09:25 PM	#10
EZ1 Registered User Join Date: May 2002 Location: Florida Posts: 13	You cant force them to work, against their Civil Rights, Probably didnt work before they got there, also it is CRUEL AND UNUSUAL punishment,

05-29-2002, 09:35 PM	#11
Logansdad Guest Posts: n/a	I have to work at least 40 hours a week...nothing cruel & unusual about that.

05-30-2002, 03:33 PM	#12
Hank Springer Founding Moderator Join Date: Mar 2002 Location: Lauderdale County, Mississippi Posts: 149	Ask The democrats In Congress The twenty six thousand acre Parchman State Penitentiary, in Mississippi, used to be largest farm in the entire world. The inmates produced cotton as a cash crop while growing and processing all the vegetables and meat that was used by the prison population as well as several state owned hospitals. The prison was not only self supporting, but paid money into the state treasury. One day some bleading heart, liberal democrats decided that it is cruel to make the prisoners work. As the result of their efforts the prison farm was closed down and the people of the State of Mississippi began to pick up the tab for housing and caring for the prisoners, as well as paying more to operate the state hospitals. The reason for the action of the liberals is obvious. After all, who votes democrat? Parchman once had the reputation of not having comebacks. Once a man did time at Parchman he didn't want to repeat it, so he avoided breaking the law in the State of Mississippi. Now the prisoners say they have it better in jail than out and don't mind comming back at all. __________________ Hank Last edited by Hank Springer; 05-30-2002 at 03:39 PM.

08-04-2004, 06:30 PM	#14
Big Dog Moderator Join Date: Mar 2002 Location: Tallahassee, Florida Posts: 10,412	Here in Florida, the PRIDE program DL spoke of is a major supplier of materiel to the State agencies. Much of our office supplies, even desks, chairs and bookcases, are made by PRIDE. We were moving a PRIDE-manufactured bookcase during our move last year - one floor to another. Got the danged thing up to the new digs - then - with a loud clash and clatter - it literally fell apart! The danged Cons had stapled the boards together!! :insane: Yep, those contracts always go to the lowest bidder - quality be-!!!!ed. __________________ Moderator of: AR15/M16, M14/M1A, New/Beginning Shooters and Militaria/Collectables.

08-04-2004, 07:11 PM	#15
NRAJOE Senior Member Join Date: Apr 2002 Location: Toledo,OH Posts: 19,252 Images: 3	Someones bored.... __________________ U.S. Army 1976-1979 237th Combat Engineers Heilbronn, Germany

08-04-2004, 09:06 PM	#16
Logansdad Guest Posts: n/a	Florida prison system faq http://www.fplao.org/FloridaPrisonFAQs.html

08-04-2004, 09:08 PM	#17
whirlwind Senior Member Join Date: Jan 2003 Location: oklahoma Posts: 3,751 Images: 1	if the state programs arent mandatory they should be! what ever happened to "hard labor"? heck if the prison their in doesnt have manufacturing,let the little criminal bastages make lil ones outa big ones for the complete time their there! just think what a boom that would be to the music industry! the blues would make a comeback! maybe thats why the blues as a style hasnt grown since the 60's? they had no motivation...no frame of referance! :guitar: __________________ De oppresso liber !

08-04-2004, 10:54 PM	#18
BattleRifleG3 Super Moderator Join Date: Mar 2002 Location: Western PA Posts: 11,454 Images: 13	Involuntary servitude (slavery) is prohibited by the 13th Amendment "EXCEPT AS PUNISHMENT FOR A CRIME FOR WHICH THE ACCUSED HATH BEEN DULY CONVICTED." Since prisons are by nature run by the government, inmates work should be used to defray our taxes that we otherwise pay for their incarceration. __________________ Trust is earned, not... GIVEN away. - Worf

08-05-2004, 07:09 PM	#19
Logansdad Guest Posts: n/a	Amen BRG3 ! :right:

08-09-2004, 01:15 AM	#20
stangman Member Join Date: Jul 2004 Posts: 64	Hi again Logansdad, as you could tell from the previous posts most inmates in most states do indeed work, either as "trustee's, work camps, road crews and such. Most of the inmates that do earn money, do indeed have to use a portion of their pay for restitution and of course fees,fines & costs. Most of these are paid though after release to Community Corrections, Work Release, Parole or what-ever the case may be. As for "cruel & unusual punishment" to make inmates work, well, the Supreme Court has upheld the use of inmate labor, in a humane usage. Even the U.S. Constitution states that the usage of inmates for labor. The 16th Admendment- abolition of slavery- that persons of the US can not be used, or sold as slaves except those sentenced for felonious crimes. Of course we can't and won't treat inmates as slaves because of how abhorent it is to Americans and stands against the very ideals of our nation.