Is it constitutional to put prisoners to work??

I read this news: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080403/ap_o...

... I've always thought of how to make prisoners productive instead of having them be burdens. Why not put them to work???

Maybe bee farming or planting crops or trees or something else that rehabilitates them WHILE at the same time making them useful?? Instead of having them sit on their butts for months or years, boring the hell out of their brains, which makes them even more violent, why not give them work and a sense of purpose??

Who do i contact to have this idea heard by the government??

Hell, forced labor -- they're prisoners, doesn't that mean they're not citizens? To be fair, we can give them minimum wage... When they get out, they can continue the same jobs or progress at normal wage --- okay someone contact me about this, i want to make it work.

I think its a wonderful idea. Start writing letters to every elected official at a state or federal level you can. Give them your ideas and your reasons. Have your friends and relatives do the same. Thats how you start the ball rolling.

As with Fabian, it already exists. Prisoners who do work *are* paid for it. And often part of their less-than-minimum wages are garnished to pay restitution. In-prison work, such as vegetable farming are also used to help lessen the financial impact of running the prison.

Sadly, though, figures are bandied about of it costing $25,000-$50,000 per year per prisoner housed. Can you think of any job that a con could do (and would be hired for,) that can match that level of income? I can't.

In many prisons, there are also programs for prisoners to get job education in simple things like road-construction flagging.

The opportunities are there for prisoners who don't want to just sit on their butts. BUT, forcing that gives you not a prison, but a Gulag. Do you really want that in America?

I appreciate your wanting prisoners to be rehabilitated, though. :)

There are roads and bridges, etc. that need repairs and there's plenty of man-power in our prisons. The problem is that most of our prisons are now privately run facilities. The same people who are building our prisons are the same people pushing for legislation like the "three strikes" law that makes third time offenders receive mandatory sentencing. So it's in the best interest of those who build/ own/ operate prisons to have as many people incarcerated as possible. Research has shown that treatment for substance abuse is not only cheaper for the tax payers but also more effective for the drug abusers. Forced labor is essentially slavery. Even those men/ women have broken the law and lost some of their rights, they are still human beings and can not be forced to work without compensation. And then of course, there's the issue of liability for the prison owners who may/ may not want to take such a risk.

I agree. Taxpayers are paying their way and they do nothing.

I am guessing that would be the governor of your state. Not really sure.

I'm with you on this one. They should work . Everyone should work, why should they sit back all day. If anything they ought to work so they can adjust to the REAL wolrd when they get released.

It used to be until the ACLU won the case claiming that putting prisoners or mental patients to work, without pay, is slavery. Now we have to give them minimum wage.

My mother, who was the head nurse of a mental hospital, had a patient who worked out his frustrations while scrubbing the floor, but she wasn't allowed to even let him do it. So, instead, he got angry one day and beat the crap out of her, which started a 30 year decline, disability, and death.

Chain gangs, great idea or better yet send them over to Iraq and so what they do

Prisoners-Prison systems are draining on tax dollars. I agree that they do need to be a productive part of society. Debts incurred for incarceration and "court appointed attorneys" need to somehow be the responsibility of the convicted person not the rest of society. Restitution in the form of labor is a start to the compensation. This is a Win-Win. The convicted person learns a trade/skill and work ethic/responsibilities good throughout their lives and society benefits with the decrease in burden/taxation. The prison system has become too soft, catering to people convicted of crimes, worrying about how they should be treated and made comfortable rather then focusing on the victims of crime and the repercussions upon society.

I believe this concept has already been put to use & is still being used ... ever heard of a CHAIN GANG ?

Yes. It is constitutional. And in many states the prisoners do work. And.... they are paid. Just not very much. Maybe a dollar a day or something like that.
They grow vegetables, and in some prisons there are sewing plants. It varies from prison to prison.

Many of them do work. I work for the county and inmates are currently doing all the construction on our building. The inmates have to earn trustee status to work and consider it a privilege because they get to be out of their cell for most of the day.