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Would it be better if you could only do the former then?

Also, if you worked 8 hours you'd be able to buy a lot more than a single pack of ramen.

> While ramen costs about 35 cents at Target, prison commissaries charge between 24 cents to $1.06 nationwide.

https://theappeal.org/locked-in-priced-out-how-much-prison-c...

It would be better if they weren't treated like dogs to begin with and they shouldn't be allowed to undercut local labor costs. Nor should the jail receive 75% of their wage on top of the 400% markup on commissary items they already take. Thats ends up with about 6% of the wages value going to the workers on top of their wages being 3x lower than local workers.

We incentivize creating the conditions of the former, and increased incarceration, by making the latter profitable.

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