Why aren't prisoners forced to work on public works projects?
Why don't we have prisoners, especially the ones who are serving life sentences, build our freeways and bridges and public buildings? I'm sure there's a reason this isn't commonplace... is it considered unethical or something? If there are any court cases relating to this I'd love to see them.
2007-12-27T18:08:23Z
Why don't we have prisoners, especially the ones who are serving life sentences, build our freeways and bridges and public buildings? I'm sure there's a reason this isn't commonplace... is it considered unethical or something?
If there are any court cases relating to this I'd love to see them.
(I'm concerned primarily with the U.S., but international examples would also be of interest.)
FRAGINAL, JTM2007-12-27T18:07:54Z
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It is very hard to secure the prisoners when they are allowed to perform work on public projects.
Some of the answers here were fair but not well informed. First of all, lifers have committed such crimes that they are not to be put in a position where they could possibly escape and become a threat again to society. They committed crimes of violence and therefore are sentenced to life and not eligible for access outside the "wall".
As for some of the other inmates, in my state, we do contract out extra help on these projects. This helps the Union get more contracts, the non-inmates get more money because they don't have to pay union wage to the inmates AND the union contractor's get a bonus for finishing the work ahead of time because of the inmates filling in the gaps. Additionally, the money that the inmates do make doing this work, they get 75 percent taken out of their checks and it is given back to DOC for their housing costs. So, it is happening to some degree in some places.
Dont know of any Legal cases BUT Id like to see Inmates do the following: Remove Flood damage- New Orleans LA area. Clear debris from Fires Build sandbags to deter flooding Remove Hwyside trash & litter. Remove rocks etc debris for trails. Burn illegal drugs?? Pave country roads. Do Food Service in the Prison IE they Cook the food. & work 10 Hour days X 5. Then work another 8 hours. Be 2 tirded to fight. ALL Gangs involved & the Guards have OK SHOOT TO KILL orders. & then see the AZ sheriff in Cochice County AZ & use his role model. Or send inmates to Saudi Arabia. Head lop off time. Neat.
Although I do not have the time to do the research for you I can assure you that the government does indeed use inmate labor to build many public projects. They have put many privately owned companies out of business over the years and have never, to my knowledge, been successfully sued. They have been sued though. Unicor is the Federal Government inmate labor company.