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Going to prison is no reward. No sane person would go to prison for the chance to earn minimum wage. Furthermore, as the article states, prison services are su

Going to prison is no reward. No sane person would go to prison for the chance to earn minimum wage. Furthermore, as the article states, prison services are substandard or entirely missing. Either fix that and we can talk deductions above normal taxes or allow the prisoners to earn minimum wage or more and to keep their earnings.

JumpCrisscross 4y ago
> No sane person would go to prison for the chance to earn minimum wage It's not minimum wage. It's minimum wage plus room and board plus shitty food and healthcare. Even for someone young and healthy, albeit uneducated, a few years in prison could yield a nest egg. For someone with a chronic health condition, getting sentenced could be the smart move. (This is true even today, depending on your city and state.) The price of prison labor, what companies and the government pay for it, should be no less than prevailing wages. Ideally, indexed to the county the prison is in. What the prisoner is paid out of that should deduct some amount, again ideally related to a local cost-of-living index, that goes into a rehabilitation fund.
- monniez 4y ago
  I mean, really? You want to trade your freedom and clean criminals record for minimum wage plus room and board? No sane person would do that. Prisoners should receive their wages less income taxes. Anything else creates a moral hazard, as we have seen with prisons for profit. That doesn’t mean wages could not be garnished if there is a judgement against the prisoner.
  - deleted 4y ago
    [deleted]
- jonnycomputer 4y ago
  Pros: minimum wage (but not really), shitty room, shitty food, shitty healthcare Cons: minimum wage (yeah, not really), shitty room, shitty food, shitty healthcare, AND - loss of freedom, - loss of reputation, - loss of privacy, - no prospect of advancement, - no raises, - even shittier neighbors (on average), - holidays without your family, - almost impossible to get a job when you're out, - no vacation or other time off, - no or almost no sex or intimacy with your loved ones, - being treated like shit every day, - the threat of solitary, - being in solitary, I could go on, but why bother.
  - JumpCrisscross 4y ago
    Poverty is no peach either. Do you really think there aren’t Americans for whom that situation, plus the promise of tens of thousands of dollars to one’s name in a few years, would not be an insane choice? It’s crap that’s reality. But it’s true, and between the prison population and those folks, I would argue for prioritising the latter. (Naturally, it’s better to do both.)
    - jonnycomputer 4y ago
      Still not finding this a persuasive argument. If there are such people, they are an insignificant proportion of both poor people generally and the prison population particularly.

JumpCrisscross 4y ago

> No sane person would go to prison for the chance to earn minimum wage It's not minimum wage. It's minimum wage plus room and board plus shitty food and healthcare. Even for someone young and healthy, albeit uneducated, a few years in prison could yield a nest egg. For someone with a chronic health condition, getting sentenced could be the smart move. (This is true even today, depending on your city and state.) The price of prison labor, what companies and the government pay for it, should be no less than prevailing wages. Ideally, indexed to the county the prison is in. What the prisoner is paid out of that should deduct some amount, again ideally related to a local cost-of-living index, that goes into a rehabilitation fund.

monniez 4y ago
I mean, really? You want to trade your freedom and clean criminals record for minimum wage plus room and board? No sane person would do that. Prisoners should receive their wages less income taxes. Anything else creates a moral hazard, as we have seen with prisons for profit. That doesn’t mean wages could not be garnished if there is a judgement against the prisoner.
- deleted 4y ago
  [deleted]
jonnycomputer 4y ago
Pros: minimum wage (but not really), shitty room, shitty food, shitty healthcare Cons: minimum wage (yeah, not really), shitty room, shitty food, shitty healthcare, AND - loss of freedom, - loss of reputation, - loss of privacy, - no prospect of advancement, - no raises, - even shittier neighbors (on average), - holidays without your family, - almost impossible to get a job when you're out, - no vacation or other time off, - no or almost no sex or intimacy with your loved ones, - being treated like shit every day, - the threat of solitary, - being in solitary, I could go on, but why bother.
- JumpCrisscross 4y ago
  Poverty is no peach either. Do you really think there aren’t Americans for whom that situation, plus the promise of tens of thousands of dollars to one’s name in a few years, would not be an insane choice? It’s crap that’s reality. But it’s true, and between the prison population and those folks, I would argue for prioritising the latter. (Naturally, it’s better to do both.)
  - jonnycomputer 4y ago
    Still not finding this a persuasive argument. If there are such people, they are an insignificant proportion of both poor people generally and the prison population particularly.