Prison Labor and Mass Incarceration

Prison Labor in the 20th Century

Image result for black children convict leasingJames’ systematic abuse of incarcerated people reflected a pervasive process affecting Southern prisoners: convict leasing. Convict leasing was the practice of states supplying penal labor to private companies, corporations, and plantation owners. The need for prisoners to supply this labor lead to mass incarceration of Black people through flimsy legislature: Black Codes subjected Black people to criminal prosecution of “loitering, breaking curfew, vagrancy, having weapons, and not carrying employment” (Equal Justice Initiative). These Black Codes explicitly tied Black employees to their White employers. They were not allowed to quit their jobs or move without permission (PBS). These harsh conditions weren’t limited to adults: until the 1940s, “Black orphaned children and juvenile offenders could be bought to serve as laborers for white planters” (Equal Justice Initiative).

With little incentive to maintain the health of their laborers, leasers kept prisoners in heinous conditions. Prisoners lacked access to suitable food and shelter, lived surrounded by filth and illness, and faced brutal punishment. Unsurprisingly, it was almost impossible for them to leave captivity. Frequently, these prisoners were taken far from their families and their paperwork was lost. Thus, they “were unable to prove their debts — and were otherwise assumed they hadn’t” (Wagner).

Convict leasing proved extremely profitable. In Alabama, the last state to outlaw convict leasing, the practice provided 10% of the states total revenue 1883. By “1898, nearly 73 percent of total revenue came from this same source” (Digital History).

The practice of convict leasing continued into the twentieth century, until banned under the presidency of Franklin Delano Roosevelt in 1941. Worried that “racial inequalities would be used as anti-United States propaganda, Attorney General Francis Biddle . . . [instructed federal prosecutors] to actively investigate and try more peonage cases” (Wagner). It didn’t matter, however, because another similarly cruel method of employment had come to light: chain gangs.

As “dramatic stories of the abuse and wretched conditions of convict laborers” was publicized throughout the south,” chain gangs surfaced as a favored solution (PBS). Chain gangs were groups of prisoners fastened together by handcuffs compulsed to work. They made significant contributions to the highway system, especially in rural areas, and lived in (and worked near) one of two places: (1) a traditional prison or (2) mobile jails, like trucks and railcars.

Chain gangs minimized the cost of guarding prisoners, but exposed prisoners to painful ulcers and dangerous infections from the heavy shackles around their ankles. An individual’s misstep or fall could imperil the entire group, and chains prevented individuals from moving away from aggressive or violent prisoners. (PBS)

While chain gangs were eventually abolished in the early 1960s, unfair labor continued to permeate the American justice system. Repeatedly, courts have ruled inmates “are not protected by the constitutional prohibition against involuntary servitude . . . [and] have no constitutional right to compensation” (Wray). If they do get compensated, it is by “grace of the state” (Wray). If an inmate refuses to work, they are punished with “solitary confinement, loss of earned good time, and revocation of family visitation” (Benns).

The Prison-Industrial Complex

Contemporary scholars and prison-reform activists attribute the continuation of prison labor to the prison-industrial complex. The prison-industrial complex describes the intricately connected public and private interests profiting off of the prison system. These interests include businesses which transport, feed, and supply goods and services to prisons, like surveillance. Often, the prison-industrial complex argues that prisons not only absolve social problems but create jobs along the way.

In her essay “Masked Racism: Reflections on the Prison-Industrial Complex,” Maya Angelou argues the prison-industrial complex preys upon the most vulnerable for economic benefit. It portrays youth of color as “purveyors of violence, traffickers of drugs, and as envious of commodities that they have no right to possess” (Angelou). Meanwhile, under the lens of this complex, young women of color are “sexually promiscuous and . . . indiscriminately propagating babies and poverty” (Angelou). This perceived deviance thus provokes increased surveillance and decreased resources within their communities.

When prisons disappear human beings in order to convey the illusion of solving social problems, penal infrastructures must be created to accommodate a rapidly swelling population of caged people. (Angelou)

Low Wages and Their Implications

While incarcerated people earn, on average, 14 to 62 cents per hour, they face incredibly high costs. For example, an average minimum-wage worker in prison would need to work more than 25 hours to in order to afford a co-pay to see a doctor. Seven states, which do not pay prisoners at all, still require payment to see doctors. These incredibly-high (and sometimes impossible) co-pays threaten a higher-risk of disease spreading and worsening (Sawyer).

5 thoughts on “Prison Labor and Mass Incarceration”

  1. Looking back on our history, it’s clear that we have a lot of things that we’re not proud of as a nation. Even when legislation was enacted to combat the practice of convict leasing, chain gangs quickly rose up to take its place. Soon after chain gangs were outlawed, unfair treatment in court soon followed. This never-ending cycle of injustice that terrorizes prison court cases seems to be an unstoppable force no matter how much time passes. I look forward to reading about the possible reforms that Maya Angelou will speak about as well as the unfair wage system that is a constant presence for the incarcerated.

  2. It’s pretty wild how Southern Plantation owners were able to continue slave-like profits post Civil War through practices like tenant farming and the Black Codes, which effectively were legislative loopholes to continue slave/prison-esk practice.

  3. It’s really sad to see how desperate the state governments were in trying to enslave and imprison people. Not only is this bad in itself, but these people then were contracted to work for others while being imprisoned and were treated horribly. Looking at the modern day and age there have been quite significant reforms for prisoners and jails.

  4. It honestly breaks my heart to read about all of these issues, many of which are still prevalent in other countries, even our own. The abusive stigma within prison systems is in need of a change. I did not know about the practice where prisoners have to pay to see doctors and the fact that 7 states are not paying the prisoners and allowing the debt to build up is just setting up prisoners for failure right after they exit prison.

  5. It still astounds me to read these blogs, but also it does put into context how the current prison system has come to be how it is. Prison labor is inhumane, but reading about child labor is appalling. It is terrible to read about how the prison system has transitioned in its egregious activities. Chain gangs have gained notoriety for understandable reasons, but the outsourcing of prison jobs has been a continued problem since. The outsourcing of prison contracts to private companies has the potential to only further exploit the prisoners.

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