Prison Slavery, worse than you think!

The AP published a phenomenal investigation last week, uncovering the extent to which major food producers in the U.S. directly rely on slave labor in prisons to produce, grow, and transport the food. Here are key takeaways.

The investigation found that hundreds of millions of dollars worth of food (or perhaps more!) are produced by prisoners who are forced to work for nothing or a pittance, and who face severe punishment if they resist. Companies not using forced labor might understandably find it hard to compete (wasn’t there a civil war about this?).

The article goes on to describe the thriving practice of convict leasing, where prisoners are leased out or “rented” to companies and individuals on the outside:

This reminds me of the Louisiana sheriff blaming criminal justice reforms for letting out the good workers. I recommend taking the time to read the AP article in full. I learned a lot. As a companion piece, I recommend checking out this recent economic analysis finding that paying people in prison real wages would generate far more in value to society (in victim restitution, recidivism reduction, and greater stability for families of people in prison) than it would cost. And if you want to learn about campaigns to ban prison slavery, check out End The Exception.