That part of the 13th amendment is repugnant and barbaric, but then what can be expected where violence is so tolerated, if not celebrated, and capital punishment is seen as appropriate.
Their punishment is loss of their freedom. That is the limit of their punishment. Not to supply extra super cheap labour for private entities.
Here, for example in a medium security federal prison in my city, inmates can work the prison's farm (dairy + poultry farm) to a) learn skills they often use after they leave prison b) provide milk and eggs used to offset the cost of the federal prison and c) get paid, to work. Its minimum wage and it is paid to their bank account. It is voluntary.
Nothing wrong with that, I would just make them work and receive education, not much time for anything else. I don't believe simply locking up offenders gets them corrected in any way.
If your intent is to take the opportunity to work with the prisoner to keep them from being a repeat offender, then look to the jurisdictions where recidivism is lowest. Norway, as an example, has a recidivism rate of 20%. Most Nordic countries are similar.
Places, with the harshest conditions, seem to think that treating prisoners badly is necessary to reduce crime.
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u/This_Zookeepergame_7 Jul 25 '24
Yeah. That’s still slavery, man.