> What should we do instead? Pay them the minimum/reasonable wage while they are incarcerated, and then charge them a full rate for the economic and societal da

> What should we do instead? Pay them the minimum/reasonable wage while they are incarcerated, and then charge them a full rate for the economic and societal damage that they caused, so that they and their families would be in financial debt for the rest of their natural lives? There are plenty of alternatives, and it doesn't take much cogitation to come up with much more reasonable ones than the one you propose.