Were those people barred from multiple forms of unemployment after they graduated from your program? The "prison work preps people for normal life" argument is

Were those people barred from multiple forms of unemployment after they graduated from your program? The "prison work preps people for normal life" argument is just absurd to me, I don't see any long-term training or rehabilitation benefits to making license plates. If you want to talk about reintegrating prisoners into society, then clear prisoner's records after they leave prison and bar employers from asking about prior convictions. Otherwise, I don't buy that we're doing this out of concern for the prisoner. Also, to be clear: > Prisoners at Angola can be legally forced to work once cleared by a medical doctor, and most are required to perform field work, like harvesting soybeans and corn for at least 90 days upon arrival. For long hours in the hot sun, they earn as little as 4 cents per hour. So yeah, that sounds a lot like slavery to me. What's hyperbolic about that? 4 cents an hour is not compensation. By your logic, the South wasn't practicing slavery either since plantation owners gave their slaves "free" room and board. From the Appeal's coverage of the same prison (https://theappeal.org/louisiana-prisoners-demand-an-end-to-modern-day-slavery/ https://theappeal.org/louisiana-prisoners-demand-an-end-to-m...): > Once cleared by a prison doctor, prisoners at Angola can be legally forced to work under threat of severe punishment, including solitary confinement. Even prisoners with physical impediments may still have to work. “Angola frequently fails to accommodate men with disabilities—often forcing them to work in dangerous factories or in the fields,” said Mercedes Montagnes, executive director of the Promise of Justice Initiative.