Prison Labor In America

The United States of America is one of the largest users of prison labor in the world. This is perfectly legal according to the 13^th Amendment of the Constitution, which states that forced labor is servitude for punishment for a crime. Prisoners across the country are working in various industries, making below minimum wage with no health benefits and safety regulations. This saves corporations a great deal of money.  A few public companies that take advantage of using this cheap labor are Victoria’s Secret, Honeywell, Compaq, IBM, Texas Instruments, Microsoft, Boeing, Nintendo and McDonalds. The prison industry is growing larger each year with jailhouses being built faster than universities.

 There are various positive and negative effects of prison labor falling under the categories of people, profit and planet.  Our project examines social and ethical concerns regarding health and safety issues and rehabilitation, along with an inside view into the products companies are producing. In terms of profit, the effects on the economy, prisoners’ wages, and workers testimonials are examined.  The environmental factors point out issues concerned with outsourcing to foreign countries, fuel and energy usage, and the effect prison labor has on our planet.

 Our goal is to bring these facts to the public, enabling everyone to make their own informed decision on this controversial topic. 

Please join communication design students from ART 422 Design Issues in
rethinking the word “sustainable” as it relates to people, profit and the
planet. Projects include an eco-friendly bra for teens, designer rugs from
recycled carpets, modular furniture created with cardboard, an insiders
view into prison labor, bio-degradable fast food packaging, a bio dome to
save the bees and a book that becomes a garden in a few simple steps!

OPENING RECEPTION, THURSDAY, APRIL 17, 5-8 PM

Sustain in the Brain
ART 422 Design Issues
April 17-May 1
Department of Visual Studies Gallery
B 45 Center for the Arts

Gallery hours:
Tuesday-Friday 10-6pm
Saturday 12-5pm
 

  Victoria Secret in 34th Herald Sq, NY 

(work in progress poster) 

Can you identity a person just by the way he/she walks? I found an article called “Walk offers Clues to Identity” dated back in February 2003. I agree you can actually figure out the type of person by the way s/he moves her/his body; it’s just the simple gesture of the body that gives away her/his identity.

I believe you can tell a criminal by the way he/she walks and especially sex offenders. In addition, the security industry is interested in the technologies that can identity criminals out in a crowd.

Do you agree or disagree? (Just compare the walk of a nerdy person that lacks confidence, with a popular cheerleader who has a sassy and confident walk.)

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/2712995.stm 

Paul Wright, is an advocate for prisoners rights. He is against prison labor. He spent 17 years in prison himself.  His interview brought up some interesting points.

Slavery was never completely outlawed in the US, it is now used in Prisons. Most of the states pay prisoners for their work, yet some do not; Texas, Arkansas, Louisiana, and Florida. Wright served time and lives in Washington state, where the average is 42 cents and hour and this works out to being 55 dollars a month.

He points out that some companies use prison labor to package their products, like Microsoft, Starbucks, and Nintendo; While others like Victoria’s secret actually have their products being made by prisoners. Nintendo games are being packaged at the Twin Rivers, Washington state Department of Corrections Sex Offender Treatment Unit.  Wright reacts, “Maybe I’m the only person who found it ironic that children’s toys are being packaged by pedophiles?”

  Wrights points out an interesting statistic that “2.3 million people locked up in prison and roughly 2,700 of them work for private companies.”  He tells us that not all prisoners are forced to do this.  You can look at it as well in another way. 2.3 million people have been pulled out of the job market, raising the number of US citizens that are un employed. What else would they be doing if not this?

The US Military benefits from prison labor as well. The prisoners are doing s service to their country by creating products like Kevlar helmets, body armor, cluster bomb casings, tow missile cables, Humvee armor and uniforms, bunk beds and wall lockers.

He also explains that in recycling computers, which many prisoners do, exposes them to various harsh chemicals, heavy metals, and dangerous conditions and substances.

 A single computer contains hundreds of chemicals that are known to cause cancer and other illnesses.

Read the full story at http://www.realchangenews.org/2008/2008_02_06/main_v15n07.html

Prisoners are learning a trade, as well as earning money that they can use later on in their life. “It helps them really pay their debt back to the folks who have been harmed in society, as well as make adequate preparation for their release back onto the streets.” says ADC director Dora Schriro.  They are helping the farming industry, without their help thousands of dollars would be lost and crops would go to waste. 

It is a benefit to the farmers as well, even if the practice isn’t right. The states are auditing more and more farms to find illegal workers, so the farmers must look elsewhere for cheap labor. “It’s an effort by firms to find the worker who’s easiest to exploit, who they don’t have to pay benefits, who can drive wages down,” -David Smith, AFL-CIO. 

Low-security inmates convicted of nonviolent crimes from the Picacho (Ariz.) Prison Unit work at LBJ Farm pitching watermelons for $2 an hour.
Inmates from the Picacho Prison Unit sign their time cards. Their salary goes to pay prison room and board, social restitution for their crimes, and into prisoner savings accounts.Manuel Reyna, serving a 6.5 year drug sentence, has earned $9,000 this way, a sum he’ll access upon his release. Inmates and Mexican workers work side by side, boxing the melons for shipment. Inmates board buses to go back to their prison a few miles away. The growing controversy over illegal immigrant workers has fueled interest in Arizona’s longstanding prison-work program. 

View the full story at http://www.csmonitor.com/2007/0822/p14s02-wmgn.html?page=1

This is a very informational video: http://www.csmonitor.com/slideshows/2007/prison_labor/