I understand the position that why should criminals get anything since they have nothing coming to them, but some sort of plan has to exist to stop the revolving recidivism door or even promote prison order. There's state prisons that now allow you to order (with your meagre work wages) takeout pizza and other food from restaurants close to the prison if you have good time credit. Apparently that is the best discipline motivator since nobody wants to risk losing their pizza and takeout privs.
I'm not sure how cash payment to prisoners solves the problems of recidivism. If it did a more cost effective solution would just to pay criminals $10,000 and turn them back on the streets.
Or are you saying that the prison experience itself somehow distills in the prisoner some essential skill which combined with $10,000 dollars turns them into law abiding citizen?
I'm strongly against prisons being profit centers because it invites abuse like we've seen with private, for-profit prisons. I'm even for paying prisoners minimum wage but not all of it should drop to the bottom line. They can and should pay costs associated with their trial and incarceration and also pay into a victims compensation fund depending on the nature of their crime.
Otherwise it's just a subsidy which could be better spent elsewhere.
Starting a life from scratch is expensive and after they do that they'll be on the same footing as a standard "pay-check to pay-check" citizen.
Should we forbid people from working while living with their parents?
Never mind the ethical bankruptcy of using slave labour... The thirteenth amendment, as it was drafted is as much blight on civilized society as the Gulags were.