Analysis of prison labor from Justice Works!

[eridani]

PRISON SLAVE PLANTATION:
DISMANTLING THE PROFIT MOTIVE FOR INCARCERATION
PO Box 1489 • Lake Stevens, WA 98258 • 206-309-2087
justice_works {at} yahoo.com • www.justiceworks.info


A lot of people in the criminal justice reform movement and in the anti-racism movement use terms such as “prison plantation” and “prison slave labor”. Some people consider these words as inflammatory or overly dramatic. Our organization aims to “dismantle the profit motive for incarceration”. Those words make some people very nervous and others very confused. Those who benefit from the status quo understandably get nervous with all the talk of exposing and crumbling the existing system for dealing with crime. However, even those who are otherwise informed about criminal justice reform issues don’t always understand what “profits” we’re talking about since everyone knows that the criminal justice system is the largest part of our state budget, and thus, costs taxpayers dearly. Or, people say that since Washington State doesn’t have private prisons, these issues don’t relate to us. Not so.

We’ll explain it this way. First, you’ll see the legal framework that is the basis for this wording. Next, we’ll provide statistics to show you which group of people are being targeted by the criminal justice system. Then, we’ll explain exactly who is profiting and how. Finally, we will explain some of the costs of the prison industrial complex.

No, we aren’t being extremist or inflammatory when we use the term “prison plantation”. Consider the facts.

LEGAL FRAMEWORK

Most people believe that the 13th amendment abolished slavery. This is not correct. It actually legalized it. Consider the exact wording of the amendment. “Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, except as a punishment for crime, whereof the party shall have been duly convicted, shall exist in the United States”. So, in order to be a slave in this country, you must be convicted of a crime. Slavery is legal in our country.

WHO IS BEING TARGETED? (statistics from the Bureau of Justice old but still relevant)

Nationally

On December 31, 2002, there were 2,033,331 people in U.S. prisons and jails. That's a rise of 3.7% during the 12 previous months, more than twice the growth rate of the previous year. The average annual increase since 1995 has been 3.6%. More than one half of these people are African American men and women in spite of the fact that African Americans make up only 13% of the population. More than 70% of all incarcerated people are people of color. Approximately five million people, including those on parole and probation, are controlled by the criminal justice system.

Incarceration rates by race, June 30, 2002: Whites: 353 per 100,000, Blacks: 2,470 per 100,000.

By males by race, June 30, 2002: White males: 649 per 100,000, Black males: 4,810 per 100,000.

Males aged 25-29 and by race, June 30, 2002: White males ages 25-29: 1,615 per 100,000,
Black males ages 25-29: 12,877 per 100,000. That's 12.9% of Black men in their late 20s.

Or you can make some international comparisons: South Africa under Apartheid was internationally condemned as a racist society. South Africa under apartheid (1993), Black adult men: 851 per 100,000 U.S. under George Bush (2002), Black adult men: 7,150 per 100,000

Why would our country, as the leader of the "free world" locks up its Black men at a rate 8.4 times higher than the most openly racist country in the world?

According to the Human Rights Watch Press, in 1996, Blacks constituted 62.6 percent of all drug “offenders” admitted to state prisons. In at least fifteen states, Black men were sent to prison on drug charges at rates ranging from twenty to fifty-seven times those of white men.

Washington State

As of March 2003, Washington State had 15,318 people in prison. 21.4% of those prisoners are African Americans while Washington’s total population is only 3.2% African American.

Thirty seven percent of all Washington State prisoners sentenced to life without the possibility of parole under the “Three Strikes” law are African Americans.

Twenty four percent (24%) of African American males are permanently disenfranchised under current Washington law.

Twenty one percent (21%) of Washington state prisoners are incarcerated for drug crimes.

Washington’s prison system is currently operating at 169% of rated capacity.

Seattle

In King County, 53 percent of the people sentenced as three-strikers are Black, according to an analysis by the Seattle Post-Intelligencer. Less than 6 percent of the county’s residents are Black. And, the most common “strike” is second-degree robbery, a crime that involves no actual weapon and no injuries.

Does this mean that African Americans are committing more crimes than white people?

No.

According to a 2003 study by UW sociologist Professor Katherine Beckett, all of the available evidence indicates that the majority of those who deliver serious drugs (cocaine, heroin, methamphetamines, and ecstasy) in Seattle are white, and that a much smaller percentage of those who do so are Black. And yet, according to Seattle Police Department arrest records, 62.6% percent of those arrested for this crime from January 1999-April 2001 were Black; only 19% of those arrested for delivery of serious drugs were white. Seattle was just 8.3% Black according to the 2000 census. Professor Beckett’s report clearly shows that Blacks are not arrested at these extremely high rates due to being over-represented among drug dealers or deliverers. Rather, the report demonstrates that police enforcement choices are responsible for the racial composition of those arrested for drug delivery.

According to George Bridges, a UW sociologist, no one may make a decision to focus arrests, prosecution or tough sentences on Blacks, but the results may exactly be that. Our Justice Works! Analysis of Racism in the Criminal Justice System as Experienced by African Americans provides specific examples of how the criminal justice system can legally be plied at every step of the criminal justice system to incarcerate more Blacks and to incarcerate them for longer sentences than whites. This document is available via email upon request.

WHO IS PROFITTING and HOW?

Private Sector

UNTIL IT WAS FOUND TO BE UNCONSTITUTIONAL IN WASHINGTON STATE, private companies used prison labor and prison space and were called “Class 1: Free Venture Industries”. These companies had a pool of prisoner workers with no labor unions, no strikes, no health benefits, and no unemployment insurance. They only needed to pay a wage of 75% of what is paid to “free” people. They avoided language problems and steep international shipping costs encountered with cheap overseas labor. The free industrial space was provided with vocational training and a program coordinator provided with taxpayer dollars. For example, MicroJet, a company that used prison labor at Washington State Reformatory in Monroe, got more than 11,000 square feet of industrial space rent-free. Many utilities were provided to MicroJet, free of charge or at discounted rates. The Department of Corrections (DOC) also provided security and a security orientation session. In 2001, according to Washington State Supreme Court Justice Bobbe Bridge, DOC actually enticed employers with the promise of lower overhead costs and a motivated and readily available work force. These prison workers were motivated because the only other pay options available to them are 42 cents per hour, to maintain the prison environment, and up to $1.10 per hour to produce products and services for the state. The exact wording used by the DOC to entice employers was as follows: “By employing highly motivated workers and lowering your overhead rate by operating within an institution, you make money. If you don’t have your own manufacturing plant or are unhappy with an out-of-state or offshore supplier, you can lower your procurement costs and get better service by contracting with Correctional Industries.” Justice Bridge also said that employers were also told that in addition to lowering their costs, they could potentially receive bid preferences on state contracts. THIS ALL STOPPED AFTER IT WAS FOUND TO BE UNCONSITUTIONAL. NOW, SOME WANT TO CHANGE THE CONSTITUTION TO MAKE PRISON LABOR AVAILABLE TO PRIVATE BUSINESSES AGAIN.

The following are some of the companies who have used or are currently using US prison slave labor; IBM, Motorola, Compaq, Texas Instruments, Honeywell, Microsoft, Boeing, Nordstrom (Oregon prisoners make clothing), Revlon and Pierre Cardin (Maryland prisoners). Other companies include MicroJet, Nike, Lockhart Technologies, United Vision Group, Chatleff Controls, Dell Computers, Eddie Bauer, Planet Hollywood, Redwood Outdoors, Wilson Sporting Goods, Union Bay, Elliott Bay, A&I Manufacturing, Washington Marketing Group, Omega Pacific, J.C. Penney, Best Western Hotels, Honda, K-Mart, Target, Kwalu, Inc. McDonalds, Hawaiian Tropical Products, Burger King, Imperial Palace Hotel, C.M.T. Blues, Konica, Allstate, Merrill Lynch, Shearson Lehman, Louisiana Pacific, Parke-Davis and Upjohn. Prisoners do data entry for Chevron, make telephone reservations for TWA, raise hogs, shovel manure, make circuit boards, furniture, limousines, waterbeds and lingerie for Victoria’s Secret. And, all this labor is at a fraction of the normal cost. Are you surprised to see so many well known and big names on this list? If these corporations can increase their profits with prison labor, how would that motivate them to view the problem of “crime”? How much money do they spend to lobby for a “tough on crime” society? Fear sells.

Many people see the prison system as a source of income. Financially strapped rural communities often welcome prisons to boost their economies. Goods and services must be provided to keep imprisoned people alive. On a routine basis, prisoners are transported across state borders as they are transferred from one state or federal prison to another for financial reasons. Government contracts to build prisons have bolstered the construction industry. A major new niche for the architectural professionals is prison design. Prison construction bonds are profitable investments for companies like Merrill Lynch. Technology developed for military purposes by companies like Westinghouse are being marketed to the law enforcement and prison sectors. Telephone companies charge prisoner families extremely outrageous prices for the collect calls from prisoners trying to stay connected to their loved ones.

The prison commissary charges above normal retail price for all items sold to prisoners. Washington State prisoners are required to pay a monthly fee for cable television hookup, whether or not they have a television. If they are indigent, their debt simply grows.

Public Sector

In addition to for-profit businesses, many government agencies use cheap prison labor. As government officials feel the pressures of budget cuts and they see the possibilities of getting their work done with cheap prison labor, they also move towards supporting a “tough on crime” society. Prisoners can be paid up to $1.10 per hour for these jobs. State entities using prison labor for internal needs and interstate trade are called “Class 2: Tax Reduction” jobs. We know some people believe in reducing taxes no matter what the circumstances. This motivates these people to support the prison plantation.

Here are examples of government work being done by cheap prison slave labor. Schools throughout the world buy caps and gowns made by South Carolina prisoners. Government forms, furniture, uniforms, street signs, park equipment, license plates and tabs, and products sold by the state are produced by prisoners.

Class 3 jobs pay 42 cents an hour. These jobs include those where prisoners do the cooking, laundry and cleaning to maintain the labor force. These jobs are called “Class 3: Institutional Support” jobs.

Money is earned by the state in other ways besides jobs. The state charges prisoners 12% interest on their legal financial obligations (court costs, restitution, etc). That debt grows while they are locked up. Keep in mind that it is primarily the poor who are incarcerated. The system overwhelms these prisoners with obligations that are literally impossible to meet. Thus, they set people up for failure and promote future crimes committed in desperation. Ironically, the state fails to pay interest to prisoners on their personal saving account that is held by the state. Also, many people assume that prisoners have free access to basic items they need. Three meals a day, very basic clothing and a cell with a hard mattress, a desk and toilet are “free” to the prisoner. Otherwise, the prisoner must pay for toothpaste, deodorant, shampoo and all other personal care products. All stamps, pens, and writing paper must be purchased. Everything. Again, all items must be purchased at the commissary at a price above what it costs a free person. The recreational equipment is paid with money taken from prisoner wages and personal money sent by family and friends. No, prisoners don’t live for free. That is a myth some people would like you to believe.

WHAT IS THE COST OF THE PRISON INDUSTRIAL COMPLEX?

Some people are benefiting from the prison industrial complex or it wouldn’t continue. The system targets the poor and people of color. Desperation and defiance are the primary causes of crime. The current criminal justice system creates high levels of desperation and defiance and therefore contributes to crime.

We believe that basic necessities such as food, shelter, and education are what make communities safe. We believe that all people need to be treated with respect and dignity. We see that the crimes against humanity that previously took the form of slavery and Jim Crow laws are currently being replaced with the modern day institutional racism against African Americans in the form of the prison slave plantation.

While big business profits from the punishment industry, taxpayers lose. It costs approximately $27,000 per year to house one prisoner. According to the Washington State Institute for Public Policy, the cost of the criminal justice system to Washington taxpayers has nearly doubled in the last two decades. The average Washington household spends $1,062 in taxes per year on the criminal justice system. The main factor driving this spending has been the increased use of incarceration in county jails and state prisons. Also, during the 1990’s the economic bottom line for increasing the incarceration rate for drug offenders turned negative. It now costs taxpayers more to incarcerate additional drug offenders than the average value of the crimes avoided. But they are still locking people up for drug offenses at very high rates. Why? Prison slave labor?

As budgets succumb to the pressures to increase money spent on the criminal justice system, other government programs created to support social challenges, such as Temporary Assistance to Needy Families, are moved out. The public schools, especially those in the poorest communities, suffer. Childcare, youth programs, elder care, low-income housing, arts and recreational programs suffer.

By targeting Blacks and then labeling them as “felons” unfit for employment when they are released, the prison system supports the racism of the economy and all the other institutional racist structures in this country. Claims of low unemployment ignore the huge numbers of people who have been removed from their communities and are hidden behind prison walls. Not allowing people convicted of drug delivery access to public housing cries foul when considering the huge injustices done by the Seattle Police Department as spelled out by Professor Beckett. Again, if the system is set up to cause people to fail, it is set up to perpetuate the prison slave plantation. Is that extreme or inflammatory or is it simply the way it is?

Prison is not the solution to problems associated with poverty. Prison labor disrespects the American worker. Homelessness, unemployment, addiction, illiteracy and mental illness are social problems that cannot be solved by putting people behind walls and wire. We can do better than that and we must do better! Justice Works! when its principles are not compromised.


http://www.thenation.com/doc/20070827/lazare

The best way to understand US prison policies is to think of them as a GI Bill in reverse. Just as the original GI Bill laid the basis for a major social advance by making college available to millions of veterans, mass incarceration is laying the basis for an enormous social regression by stigmatizing and brutalizing millions of young people and "de-skilling" them by removing them from the workforce. America will be feeling the effects for generations.

http://www.collegejournal.com/successwork/workplacediversity/20030910-wessel.html


Two young high-school graduates with similar job histories and demeanors apply in person for jobs as waiters, warehousemen or other low-skilled positions advertised in a Milwaukee newspaper. One man is white and admits to having served 18 months in prison for possession of cocaine with intent to sell. The other is black and hasn't any criminal record.

Which man is more likely to get called back?

It is surprisingly close. In a carefully crafted experiment in which college students posing as job applicants visited 350 employers, the white ex-con was called back 17% of the time and the crime-free black applicant 14%. The disadvantage carried by a young black man applying for a job as a dishwasher or a driver is equivalent to forcing a white man to carry an 18-month prison record on his back.


http://www.foundationnews.org/CME/article.cfm?ID=722

Although blacks constitute 13 percent of all monthly drug users, they represent 35 percent of arrests for drug possession, 55 percent of convictions and 74 percent of prison sentences.

http://www.wiretapmag.org/stories/41481/

Texas-based Lockhart Technologies closed its Austin plant and fired some 150 workers who constructed circuit boards because it could relocate those jobs to a Wackenhut-run prison where detainees did the work for minimum wage.

[eridani]

1. WashBlog holding a discussion on this 12/11

Please consider joining in, or just tuning into, a conversation on Washblog, www.washblog.com on Washington's 3-strikes law this coming Tuesday, 12/11, at 7PM.

The story draft & info on washblog "conversations" is here:
http://www.osculatrix.info/resentencing.html

Here's some further description:


Under Washington's 3-strikes law, Vance Bartley has been serving a sentence of life without possibility of parole for crimes involving low violence and small amounts of money.

Recently, he discovered a way to correct an error in one of his convictions. He will be released within a few months. But over 100 people continue to serve life sentences triggered by Robbery 2 convictions, a crime that Washington's Sentencing Guidelines Commission has recommended removing from the 3 strikes list because it involves "little risk of physical injury". For 10 years, Senator Kline has sponsored a bill that would bring our state into compliance with this recommendation. It fails every time for political reasons.

On Tuesday, 12/11/07, 7PM, please visit www.washblog.com to join in a conversation based on a report of Mr. Bartley's November 15 resentencing hearing. 3.5% of Washingtonians -- but 45% of Washingtonians serving time under 3-strikes are African American. How does 3-strikes affect the people it imprisons, their families, the African American community, and all of us? How can we support Senator Kline's bill?

Story draft:
http://www.osculatrix.info/resentencing.html

[eridani]

2. The Sentencing Project compares the presidential candidates

The Sentencing Project is pleased to publish a guide to the 2008 Presidential Candidates' Platforms on Criminal Justice. This guide provides information on a range of key criminal justice issues, including sentencing policy, reentry, felony disenfranchisement, and the death penalty.

The Sentencing Project is a nonpartisan public policy organization that does not support or oppose the candidacy of any candidate for public office. This document is designed to make the public better aware of the candidates' positions on criminal justice policy, an issue that has received relatively little attention in the current political debate. Voters should learn all they can about the candidates on a range of issues and should not rely on any single source of information before making their decision.

http://www.sentencingproject.org/tmp/File/PresidentialCandidatesPlatforms.pdf
We hope you find this information useful.