Slavery in the US

[Tammy]

I worked for two years as the mental health nurse in a 600 bed county jail in Ohio. In that environment, the inmates have the choice of whether to enter the work program. No one was forced to work. Instead of being paid monetarily, they received days off their sentence for days worked. There were long lines waiting to get into the work program.

Seemed fair to me and I didn’t get a feeling of slavery about it.

[Tammy]

However I really like that idea about paying minimum wage and giving it to them in release. Lack of money is a big barrier in reducing recidivism.

[Tybee]

Another barrier is lack of current skills, so the minimum wage suggestion that Tammy makes would serve two purposes, that people could get work experience and have money to help them when they got out.

But I guess that does not speak to another issue, with is making some kind of restitution to victims.

[bae]

Where is Rob to join this conversation? LOL

Don't prisoners get free healthcare, free housing, and free food?

[Tybee]

Maybe the employers who get their labor for free or ten cents and hour should have to pay half of what they are making on the free prison labor to the victims' families.

[bae]

Maybe the employers who get their labor for free or ten cents and hour should have to pay half of what they are making on the free prison labor to the victims' families.

What portion of prisoners are in for victimless crimes?

[Tybee]

A good question! If a company is getting rich on the free labor of the prisoner who hurt someone else (so not a victimless crime) why should not some restitution be made to the family that was deprived of that person?

[bae]

The US has the highest incarceration rate on the planet, and the highest *absolute* number of people in prison.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_o...rceration_rate

There's clearly something really messed up, somewhere....

[Teacher Terry]

Lots of low level drug offenders end up in prison.

[Tammy]

I agree Bae. About 90% of the inmates I worked with were people just like me. They just got unlucky, or did something stupid and got caught. Lots of drug charges that were nonviolent.

I’m all for decriminalizing all drug use and treating the addictions where indicated.