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Thought Leadership on the Prison Industry
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New rules from the Federal Communications Commission are putting the brakes on the prison telecom industry’s exploitative practices.
States are looking for new ways to execute people, and now they’re implicating South Carolinians. Whether it be a firing squad, the electric chair, or suffocation by nitrogen gas, South Carolina has its hand in calling for each. In our name, they are forsaking one of God’s most sacred principles, “Thou shalt not kill." For the sake of our souls, we must stop them.
Many of us borrow our understanding of prison labor from pop culture. Think Shawshank Redemption, men tarring roofs paid in cigarettes and beers. But, as we recently learned, the truth is very different.
New rules from the Federal Communications Commission are putting the brakes on the prison telecom industry’s exploitative practices.
States are looking for new ways to execute people, and now they’re implicating South Carolinians. Whether it be a firing squad, the electric chair, or suffocation by nitrogen gas, South Carolina has its hand in calling for each. In our name, they are forsaking one of God’s most sacred principles, “Thou shalt not kill." For the sake of our souls, we must stop them.
Many of us borrow our understanding of prison labor from pop culture. Think Shawshank Redemption, men tarring roofs paid in cigarettes and beers. But, as we recently learned, the truth is very different.
Last week, the nation’s largest prison and jail telecom corporation, Securus, effectively defaulted on more than a billion dollars of debt. The slow death of the largest player in this space is not accidental. It follows six years of intense advocacy to expose the vulnerability of the prison telecom industry’s business model on both ethical and economic grounds.
There is a common misconception that private corporations are the primary beneficiaries of forced prison labor due to viral exposés of corporate exploitation by brands like Burger King. However, while private corporations may be the most vile beneficiaries of prison labor given their for-profit interests, federal, state, and local governments are the primary beneficiaries.
When Congress passed the Thirteenth Amendment in 1865, they included a crucial exception clause that allows for slavery and involuntary servitude as punishment for crime. This clause has resulted in the forced labor of millions of people in our prisons and jails since, and the first beneficiaries of this labor were private corporations.
People who are incarcerated and detained across our country are disproportionately Black and brown and forced to work for little to no pay under the threat of additional punitive measures, such as the loss of family visits and solitary confinement. This forced labor is pervasive and takes many surprising forms: farming crops, fighting wildfires, staffing call centers and DMV offices, stamping license plates, and much more.
Imagine you are accused of a crime and assigned a lawyer. Think about everything you might tell them to help in your defense. Now imagine that everything you said to your lawyer in moments of trust and vulnerability is handed over to the very prosecutor who is building a case against you.
Recently released financial statements for Aventiv Technologies – the parent company of Securus Technologies – reveal that the prison telecom corporation capitalized on the COVID-19 public health crisis to rake in massive gains on the backs of struggling families.
Yesterday, industry behemoth Securus pulled out of its agreement to purchase ICSolutions. This transaction would have further consolidated the prison telecom industry and given Securus unprecedented control, hurting competition and, in turn, public interest.
