User:Tjklink44/Penal labor in the United States

Article Draft
=== Lead: Penal labor in the United States, allowed by the 13th Amendment of the Constitution, is a multi-billion-dollar industry. Annually, incarcerated workers provide at least $9 billion in services to the prison system and produce more than $2 billion in goods. The industry underwent many transitions throughout the late 19th and early and mid 20th centuries. Legislation such as the Hawes-Cooper Act of 1929 placed limitations on the trade of prison-made goods. Federal establishment of the Federal Prison Industries (FPI) in 1934 revitalized the prison labor system following the Great Depression. Increases in prison labor participation began in 1979 with the formation of the Prison Industry Enhancement Certification Program (PIECP). The PIECP is a federal program first authorized under the Justice System Improvement Act of 1979. Approved by Congress in 1990 for indefinite continuation, the program legalizes the transportation of prison-made goods across state lines and allows prison inmates to earn market wages in private sector jobs that can go towards tax deductions, victim compensation, family support, and room and board. ===

=== Article body: Penal labor is allowed by the 13th Amendment of the U.S. Constitution, which outlaws slavery, "except as a punishment for crime whereof the party shall have been duly convicted." Unconvicted detainees awaiting trial cannot be forced to participate in labor programs in prison as this would violate the Thirteenth Amendment. Critics of the prison labor system argue that the portrayal of prison expansion as a means of creating employment opportunity is a particularly harmful element of the prison–industrial complex in the United States. Some believe that reducing the economic drain of prisons at the expense of an incarcerated populace prioritizes personal financial gain over ensuring payment of societal debt or actual rehabilitation of criminals. In 2021, inmates in federal prisons earned between $0.23 to $1.15 per hour, far below minimum wage ($7.25 per hour). ===  Edit: ( Replace last sentence)  Prisoners are required to work if medically able. Job assignments usually include employment in areas such as food service or warehouse, plumber, painter, groundskeeper, or inmate orderly. According to the Federal Bureau of Prisons, Inmates earn 12-40 cents per hour for these jobs, far below the minimum wage of $7.25 per hour.

Edit: In recent decades "tough-on-crime" policies have led to a surge in incarceration rates, disproportionately affecting Black and poor communities. The emergence of the "prison-industrial complex" (PIC), a term used to describe the intersecting interests of government and industry in perpetuating mass incarceration, has further exacerbated these disparities. This complex includes not only the privatization of prison management but also the exploitation of prison labor by numerous U.S. corporations, contributing to the industry's rapid growth. As prisons increasingly became a source of cheap labor, the exploitation of incarcerated individuals by for-profit entities has raised ethical concerns and sparked public debate regarding the role of prison labor in modern society.