Slavery Is Still Legal in Alabama

In Alabama, the prison system operates a work release program, which sounds great. But there are some serious issues with the system that make it far more like legalized slavery than developmental opportunity. The Associated Press did a story and found this:

…in the past five years alone, more than 10,000 inmates have logged a combined 17 million work hours outside Alabama’s prison walls, for entities like city and county governments and businesses that range from major car-part manufacturers and meat-processing plants to distribution centers for major retailers like Walmart…

While those working at private companies can at least earn a little money, they face possible punishment if they refuse, from being denied family visits to being sent to high-security prisons, which are so dangerous that the federal government filed a lawsuit four years ago that remains pending, calling the treatment of prisoners unconstitutional.

Turning down work can jeopardize chances of early release in a state that last year granted parole to only 8% of eligible prisoners — an all-time low, and among the worst rates nationwide — though that number more than doubled this year after public outcry.

And there’s a LOT of money directly from operating this program for the state – $250 MILLION to be exact, since 2020. The government has been paid by over 500 private companies to “lease” human beings, and also takes 40%+ deductions from prisoner’s paychecks. Additionally, it’s estimated the state received about $450 MILLION in net benefit from this labor system. For example, imagine you’re a small business getting prison labor for 1/2 the cost of free market employees. Not only do you pocket the difference, but those prisoners have FAR more constraints which can’t be exercised over free individuals.

Here’s a video demonstrating how some prisoners are employed by private employers, then denied for parole. Essentially the state is saying that the person is safe enough to be on their own recognizance, and working with the public – but not safe enough to parole?

Who’s Hiring These Prisoners

Well, to start with, Wendy’s, McDonald’s, KFC, and Burger King are beneficiaries of this labor, and inmates are often transported to these jobs in “unmarked vans” and work interchangeably with civilian staff who might not even know the extent of the exploitation.

But when it’s time for prisoners to be released, and they’re looking forward to being free and retaining their long held jobs – that dream is shattered. The franchises have no incentive to hire them as a free citizens for $12–$15/hour (full wages) when they could simply request another inmate from the Department of Corrections to do the exact same job for pennies.

And that’s what the owners choose to do.

It’s disgusting. Exploitative. And morally wrong.

What’s Wrong With This Picture

First of all, employers can’t claim any noble motives when we see that they’re solely money motivated. They might act nice to the people they employ, but their true colors are revealed when they have to pay fair market wages.

The state could easily fix this by eliminating the monetary advantage gained by discarding prisoners when they’re released by giving the company that’s been employing the worker tax incentives or other perks for keeping the citizens employed! And if this program was really about rehabilitation and giving people a second chance and a new life – they would!

Instead the whole program, and any morality associated with it, is coin operated. And the prison system is using people in the most evil way imaginable – by keeping them imprisoned long after they should have been released. According to the reporting by the AP, if Alabama was granting parole according to their own policies, it’d be granted 80% of the time. Instead, it’s 8% – basically the lowest in the country.

The Even Bigger Picture

Although we can sit here and focus on the fact that people are being allowed to go out and work in public, but not being given parole, there is a much bigger systemic issue – namely how the entire prison system is being run in Alabama. Conditions are appalling, there is rampant systemic abuse, and it’s generally anti-American.

There was a fantastic and shocking documentary produced and released on HBO called The Alabama Solution. (Torrents also available.) Here is a video about the documentary, though you should really find and see the original. It will enrage you, and there are truly inexcusable abuses occurring.

And here’s another interview regarding the same situation:

Personally, I can’t understand how a civilized society can sleep at night while these atrocities are occurring. Furthermore, if the US Government weren’t so riddled with corruption, they could focus on ratting it out of society instead of focusing on their own greed and personal interests.