Government officials claim prisons are intended to rehabilitate people, though programs are wildly underfunded and consistently at risk of further defunding. Instead, programs often take a backseat to work detail. Thanks to an exception in the Thirteenth Amendment, which allows for slavery as punishment for a crime, across the country, people in prison are forced to work for little or no pay in grueling conditions under the threat of punishment. They farm crops, remove asbestos, fight wildfires, clean medical waste, serve on suicide watch, and still more. It’s estimated that more than $14 billion in wages is stolen from incarcerated workers each year. Learn about the failures in rehabilitative programming, how prison labor is used to prop up our carceral crisis, and what advocates are doing to end modern day slavery.

Assignment

• Read Textbook Chapter 4: Programs + Labor (pgs. 23 - 31)

• Answer Discussion Guide questions in Chapter 4: Programs + Labor (pg. 4)

• Watch the Punishment + Profit webinar on Programs + Labor

• Watch and share this week’s 5 Quick Facts video on social media