> --why shouldn't they be forced to take on some of their own upkeep? If keeping people in prison is an economic gain for society, you are going to send people

> --why shouldn't they be forced to take on some of their own upkeep? If keeping people in prison is an economic gain for society, you are going to send people to prison whatever they deserve it or not. And that is the case in the USA. "He was found guilty in February of racketeering for taking a $1 million kickback from the builder of for-profit prisons for juveniles. Ciavarella who left the bench over two years ago after he and another judge, Michael Conahan, were accused of sentencing youngsters to prisons they had a hand in building." https://www.forbes.com/sites/walterpavlo/2011/08/12/pennsylvania-judge-gets-life-sentence-for-prison-kickback-scheme/#622a001f4aef https://www.forbes.com/sites/walterpavlo/2011/08/12/pennsylv... So over-incarceration cannot be set apart from economical profit for jailing citizens. > Nobody is arguing you should have to pay kids minimum wage for doing chores... Children labour is forbidden. And when they actually work, e.g. movie actors, they get paid. Make society pay for sending people to prison and they are going to be more eager to rehabilitate than to punish. It is not the only factor, but it helps.