Private Prison Operator Geo Group Must Pay Inmates Minimum Wage for Work

https://www.newsweek.com/private-prison-operator-geo-group-must-pay-inmates-minimum-wage-work-jury-rules-1643313

by droptablemain • 5 years ago

10 5 5 years ago

perl4ever• 5 years ago

The headline seems to be very misleading as one might assume that "inmates" of a "prison" are criminals and paying them less than minimum wage has been determined to be illegal.

That doesn't seem to be what happened!

According to the article, the Washington state attorney general, in praising the decision, said "the people detained there are not criminals, nor part of a treatment or rehabilitation program"

They are people in "detention", who are "awaiting civil immigration proceedings".

On the one hand, that makes it seem more egregious, but on the other, it maybe doesn't change the status quo for prison labor as much as one might hope.

prirun2• 5 years ago

On the one hand, that makes it seem more egregious, but on the other, it maybe doesn't change the status quo for prison labor as much as one might hope.

Society is already paying to house, feed, and monitor prisoners. We should also pay them to work? How about if instead, we keep track of how much prisoners cost society while they're in jail and they have to pay it back when they're out (or while they're in and working). Do that and I'm all for paying them for their work.

dmwallin• 5 years ago

The USA is already one of the world leaders in percent of population incarcerated; it doesn't seem we are suffering from an inability to imprison. If we as a society decide to revoke someones freedom and choice, then we should be willing to shoulder the cost. Making imprisoning low cost, or even worse profitable, creates massively perverse incentives. If it costs the system little to nothing, why bother to make sure people are really guilty? Why bother to spend the money to rehabilitate? Your goal should be to align incentives, which makes a high-cost and humane prison system have lots of favorable characteristics.

CogitoCogito• 5 years ago

If the goal is to save money, then the inmates should just be released.

Private Prison Operator Geo Group Must Pay Inmates Minimum Wage for Work

Related Stories