Actually, most laws aren't in the constitution, but rather, are encoded in laws as voted on by the federal or state legislatures. Our nation doesn't have popul

Actually, most laws aren't in the constitution, but rather, are encoded in laws as voted on by the federal or state legislatures. Our nation doesn't have popular sovereignty; we are based on representatives to presumably propose and vote on laws in our best interests. (Otherwise we likely wouldn't have income tax or speed limits). Remember, there was a time when a large portion of our nation thought owning humans and forcing them to work under inhumane conditions was acceptable. However for this conversation, I'd use the spirit of checks and balances as the rule of law. The legal system has a conflict of interest when it has discretion to incarcerate those it can profit from. I agree with another comment of yours - labor to support the system is ok (since that's fairly self-balancing); labor to profit the prison system isn't.