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Why would anyone use the outside factory?

This comes up in the article. The school board had the choice between prison labor and a group hiring former prisoners. They chose prison labor. Why? It was cheaper.

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The second company is just a private company that happens to hire former prisoners. Having 2 factories owned by the state would mean they can offer one price using both types of labor.

Pay the prisoners minimum wage but withhold 75% of it until they are released. Allow the 25% to be added to commissary and legally abolish chargebacks to prisoners.

Why does any percentage need to be withheld?

It’s not a good idea to let inmates have access to more money than they need. I can see situations where their family might need it but it will certainly be exploited by inmates and their family.

There’s a lot of inmates that claim it’s easier to get drugs on the inside than the outside. Whatever you want is available for a price.

> It’s not a good idea to let inmates have access to more money than they need.

Why not? What's the downside? Who determines how much they "need"?

It's dangerous to have wealth/value in prison because it's easy for other prisoners to extort you through threats or acts of violence.

If that's the case then we should protect prisoners better, not withhold their money.

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