1/5/2012
Montgomery/Texas

Taylor M.
Mr. Metzger
Comment: Yes I do think that inmates should do labor for the government. I believe they gave up any rights they had when they committed their crime. I don’t think they should even have all the stuff they have now like television, video games, and access to work out equipment. And also the prison could make money off the working prisoners too. This would cut down on the tax payers’ money they have to tap into to pay for these convicts food, clothing, and other things. And another thing: look at the amount of money mentioned in the article, that they say was saved by allowing these people to pay their dues to the community. Two point four million a year would help lower America’s deficit. Personally I don’t care if its prisoners that are getting my food or doing any work, because there should be people that inspect the food, products, or work that the convicts do. And they should have guards on them at all times in order to prevent them from sneaking in tobacco and alcohol. As far as the ones that they say “aren’t ready to be in the outside world”, let them do work at the prison.

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10/19/2011
Sidney, MT

Karley
Mr. Faulhaber
I think that prisoners should be put to work for the government. I believe that it could greatly help the community and the state in which these inmates are currently being held at. I do feel that the more higher risk prisoners need to do more maintenance on the inside of the prison so there is a lower risk of them escaping.

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10/19/2011
Sidney Mt

Wade
Faulhaber
Yes i think that the government should put the prisoners to work. Not only is this free labor it also makes the prisoners work and not have a free lazy life in a jail cell. Although if they were to do this they would need to have a system of work in which there is no chance of anyone ever escaping. This would be free labor for the government and it could really help out a community or city.

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10/19/2011
Sidney/MT

Nichole
Fontana
I think that the inmates should have to work while they are in prison. But if they are high risk inmates then they should only be allowed to do jobs that can not affect the public in a harmfull way.

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9/14/2011
Beeville, Texas

Deidre Acosta
Ms. Thornton/A.C. Jones High School
Personally I think inmate labor would be beneficial to the government when it comes to saving money. Although there are people in our nation who are not in prison and looking for a job, the idea of prison labor would help save thousands, if not millions, of dollars that would go towards getting out of this economic downfall. This idea of prison labor is already being put to use is the city of Beeville, Texas, however, there are restrictions such as the only prisoners who are allowed to do such work are trustees, meaning that they only comitted minor crimes like getting a DUI..etc. So being that this idea is getting put to good use, I am pro to having letting inmate labor helkp governments save money.

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5/13/2011
Sidney Montana

Cody
Sidney High School
I think that Inmate labor should be used to save money. it gives the inmates a way to pay for the expenses put on all the citesens they put in harms way.

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4/18/2011
Irving/ Tx

Kenneth
Bradley/ Nimitz
I do not think the government should save money by giving prisoners jobs. There are people in prison that are not in prison who need a job more than someone who made a mistake in ended up in prison. Ethically, I think it would be wrong because we would be overlooking people who need a job but the government is not helping them in any way to get a job. I am not saying that the prisoners do not deserve any type of good treatment, but we can not help prisoners when that have wronged society in some kind of way or put that type of trust in them.

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4/17/2011
Irving, TX

Mauricio N.
Bradley/Nimitz
I would rather see an ex-prisoner use his second opportunity and get a decent career rather than have him be part of a criminal scene, again. I believe inmate labor should help governments save money because that would be less money they would have to depend on tax dollars. As long as they are being watched by a camera and made sure they do their work correctly, I wouldn't mind having a prisoner having to cook, harvest, or develop a design. Prisoners should stay active, actually serve their time in jail properly, and leave prison without returning.

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4/16/2011
Irving/TX

David B
Bradley/Nimitz High School
The idea of inmate labor would be beneficial to the government. I personally thinks it’s a good idea but with some rules and restrictions. First off, select a handful of prisoners who would not be a threat to society. This way, people wouldn’t fear their escape, which brings me to my next point. HAVE THEM SUPERVISED! With round-the-clock guards and watchmen, they’re not going anywhere. The prisoners can get some activity and skill while the government can save money especially with the 4 trillion dollar debt cut Obama wants to initiate.

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4/16/2011
Irving, TX

Andrea C
Bradley/Nimitz
For starters, people who are incarcerated are there because they committed some crime or offense and are serving time for it. They aren't there to have a good time or to hang out everyday. They should be doing something constructive, and why not make it something that gives back to the community? The idea of them working is a perfect example of time well spent. Rather than doing useless jobs, the idea of them doing skill-based work helps them and us. Of course there should be plenty of armed overseers, should anything happen such as an attempted escape. With the technology we have today there should be no problem in keeping the prisoners focused on the task at hand. The bigger picture is that it saves money. In our economic times this is vitally important.

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4/14/2011
Irving/Tx

Lisa P
Bradley/Nimitz
Inmate labor is like a win-lose situation. Prisoners working for no pay would save the government a lot of money, especially if they are growing their own food. But their are also many unemployed people willing to make the ends meet by working those jobs offered to the inmates. It also creates a safety issue, because the inmates would be exposed to public places allowing them to smuggle things back to their cells, or taking the risk of them acting in a violent or criminal way.

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3/31/2011
Irving/TX

Hector G.
Bradley/Nimitz
This is difficult to differentiate on whether inmates learning "valuable" skills and applying them to help the government save money is sufficient to cope with the jobs being taken from possibly out of work citizens. The inmates should help the government save money because the cost of actually maintaing an inmate could probably be covered by the work they do, and it would be great to learn skills for when they are released but if they could do "grunt" work and allow those jobs to be done by people who haven't committed a crime and need to make ends meet would be ideal. Prison laborers dont worry me because it is in their best interest to do a good job and there should be some regulations on what would be let out to the public. But the most important fact that is lingering is that these programs save money in a time that money is being spent to maintain prisons that are being payed by the government, it is ideal for our economy to continue these programs because they create job skills for the prisoners, so they dont end back up in jail, and revenue for the government.

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3/27/2011
Schuylerville/NY

Nate
Winter/Schuylerville
I think that this road is a double edged sword of sorts. It seems that inmates would be the best group of individuals to take the jobs in America that no one would want to take. They would save employers a lot of money in salaries and what not, as well as save the state budget. However, there is a negative side to this. As the state would "employ" these inmates for virtually free, there would be a loss of jobs within the state. The men and women that were willing to do as much, and were hoping to make ends meet with one of those jobs would suffer, and it wouldn't be fair for them. From a logistics standpoint, and budget standpoint, this decision would make perfect sense. However, from the peoples perspective it is way over the line and would result in even more of an unemployment rate.

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3/25/2011
Indianapolis In

Ashley
Singleton/Ben Davis
I definitely think prisoners should help save money by working, although I think they need to stay in the jails. Going outside prison walls to do labor only takes away jobs from law abiding citizens and creates unnecessary hazards.

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3/25/2011
Hamsterdam, NY

Prince Dominic Picciocca and Supreme Allied Commander Alexander Szyjkowski
Stuart J. Palzcak and Fancy Nancy Pants/School of the Arts
We think this is a great way to help the large and growing deficit. Having inmates do work to save the government money. They are under the control of the government, so the government might as well use them for something. This also provides skills to the inmates when they leave. According to the US Department of Justice, there are 502,000 in the federal and state prison system as of 2009. Of course, not all the inmates would be working, for example the maximum security inmates would not work. Although, there are some major safety and health issues that will need to be dealt with before the federal prisons start doing this idea. There is also a vulnerability of prisoners smuggling in illegal drugs. Overall, We think this is a great idea.

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3/23/2011
Irving/ Tx

Demi S
Bradley/ Nimitz HS
I think giving inmates the option to join a skilled-based program where they may learn to paint, garden, or partake in other laboring tasks is a great idea. It offers them an option to learn how to do certain jobs that could in turn inspire them to do better for themselves. Having a program like this may even open of some new jobs, requiring more officers for security purposes and workers skilled in those certain arts. Sure, there are many risks that come with a program like this, but if it is thought out properly there should be many ways to ensure that jobs are not lost, inmates are open to new opportunities, and the economy saves money.

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3/23/2011
Irving/TX

Mirna L.
Bradley/Nimitz
I honestly don't know what to think about inmate labor. On one hand, I know that it saves the government a lot of money if inmates work to grow their own food and do other jobs the city would have to pay other employees to do, but I also feel that it takes jobs away from honest, hard-working people who are in desperate need of a job. I see that there are a lot of pros and cons in having inmates work for the government, but if I would have to pick a side, I would say it is a bad idea. Although it gives inmates a chance to experience what life outside of jail is, it also gives them more freedom to drink, smoke, and even escape. I would probably feel uncomfortable if I was near a place I knew inmates were working at.

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3/22/2011
Irving/ Texas

LaTisha V.
Bradley/ Nimitz High School
Personally, I feel that using inmates instead of hiring people and paying them money that the government doesn't have is an awesome idea. It saves the government money, gives prisoners something to do, trains them for when they get out of prison, and again, IT SAVES MONEY! I see no problem in prisoners doing work, they are people just like everyone else. I see no reason why anyone would complain about prisoners doing work, they are just like any other person doing the job. Also. I think that prisoner's mentality will change if they know that when they get out they are useful. I don't fear that having prisoners work will harm public danger, prisons should just make security stricter if others fear public harm.

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3/19/2011
Irving, TX

Bailey M
Bradley/ Nimitz High School
It is a good idea to have prisoners grow their own food, because that will help them to learn new skills and save money in the process. I am not quite sure about having the prisoners be allowed out in the society while not being able to actually get out of prison for whatever reason. It would make me nervous if I found out that the people doing the gardening work around a local college were not grounds people at all, but instead prisoners, and I would also be skeptical about eating something that I knew prisoners collected.

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3/10/2011
Seattle WA

Strawberry
K Hansen/ HRC Seattle
It doesn't make any sense to have prisoners taking jobs from people who have probably spent a long time learning how to do their job and need the money to support their families. Most often, inmates can't handle the responsibility of the freedom of not being within the jail fences. They take advantage of the fact that they aren't at the jail and try to get away with sneaking things back to their cells.

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3/10/2011
Greencastle, pa

April Seville
greencastle antrim high school
I think that this is a good idea for how to put prisoners to work. I do think though that only the prisoners that show good behavior should get to do these types of jobs. According to greatlakesecho.org, the more time prisoners spend in the garden the less likely they are to repeat an offense. Also it saves the government money by having them do jobs like this, and if the prisoners do not return to jail after they get out after doing garden work and such jobs, then that will save the government money too. This is what I think about the prisoners and how they should work.

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3/10/2011
Irving/Tx

Shelby Z
Bradley/Nimitz
I think that inmate labor could help the government save money. It would be good for the prisoners to do skill based work which will help them when they leave. Although, I also think it is possible that some prisoners are not ready for a non-jail environment and there could be problems with them trying to escape etc. I think that it would help a lot and would work if there was a way to monitor them while on the job so that none of the things people are concerned about happen.

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3/10/2011
Irving/TX

Brittany P
Bradley/Nimitz
I think giving the inmates some skill work and real-life relationships for the inmates is a great idea! Not only would this help the economy, but it would also help the inmates feel as if they has a purpose in life, considering someone/something would be depending on them. Inmates should be given more skill-work so they have a better chance of life after prison, plus I believe this would increase their value on life. I don't think we would have to worry about our public safety given that the inmates working on the fields would have been approved through someone and qualify to work there. I don't eat crab now, but sure I'd eat crab an inmate harvested as much as I'd eat it from some random m

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3/9/2011
Irving/TX

Josh J
Bradley/Nimitz
I believe that inmate labor could help some with the government saving money, but some of the fears about escape and smuggling are going to be true. If any work is to be given to the inmates, I believe it should be whatever work that would help make them a better person; not just work that would help them when they get out of prison. I myself believe that prison laborers are not to be trusted completely. Heck, how many people are there that would allow a prisoner to come into their house or be present in the neighborhood to work without even knowing how severe the offense was. Since I would not know what offense the prisoners were in for, I personally would not want to ingest anything that w

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3/9/2011
Irving/TX

Jennifer
Bradley/Nimitz
I believe that enabling inmates to have skill-based jobs would be a wonderful alternative to grunt work. Rather than throwing work at them to just preoccupy their time, they could possibly find an actual interest of theirs that could help once they get out of prison. However, I do not believe that these jobs should take over the jobs of average noncriminals who are laid off or unemployed. Citizens that abide by the law should be given the courtesy of having a better advantage with getting a job. Because of the unfortunate circumstance that the government is in due to our sky-high debt, I think that providing inmates with skill-based jobs will help in a variety of ways.

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3/4/2011

Kristen
Greencastle-Antrim High School, Greencastle, PA
I think that because we are so far in debt in the U.S. we need anything we can get to save money. Using inmates to do certain jobs does in fact save money, but what about the millions of people out of work due to lay-offs and need help back on their feet? I think that before inmates are given the jobs, the U.S. needs to consider the people who may have a higher education than an inmate, and need a job to help with the bills and putting food on the table. Furthermore, I think this is a good idea. Inmates who are given skillful jobs that require actually working things out, and solving problems could potentially help them in the future when they are released. According to David Leonhardt in his article titled, “As Prison Labor Grows So does the Debate,” there are over 80,000+ inmates across the country working traditional jobs. Civilians don’t understand that inmates do much more for them than they know. Some jails even allow their inmates to work in local restaurants. Public safety with the inmates working these jobs does not bother me. I do not think that public safety is an issue at all; because these inmates are monitored while on the job. It isn’t like they’re sent out every morning on their own to do certain jobs. As I said before, using inmates to do these ordinary jobs does save money, and is a good idea to a certain extent. I just think the government should seriously consider the people who really need a job, before they allow inmates, who are supposed to be being punished, the job.

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3/4/2011

Wendy
Greencastle-Antrim, Greencastle, PA
I believe that inmate labor could help the government save money. The inmates are eating the food and sleeping at the prison, so they could do a favor for the community around them and help out with some physical labor jobs such as: gardening, grounds keeping, and painting buildings. The money that would originally be spent on a gardener or painter could be used toward the food the prisoners eat. In Ohio, 51,000 prisoners use $2 million worth of toilet paper, drink 1.9 gallons of milk and eat more than 3 million pounds of beef a year. Rather than buy it all from outside contractors, which could cost taxpayers millions of dollars more, the state Department of Rehabilitation and Correction puts inmates to work. I do understand the worries some people may have about letting the prisoners out to work and doubting the safety of their community; but the prisoners should be required to be under full supervision while at work. At the Pickaway Correctional Institution, inmates milk dairy cows and slaughter beef cattle. The prison meat plant is the only place you’ll find prisoners with sharp knives, large hacksaws and power tools. Not without supervision and surveillance cameras, of course, along with a metal detector at the door. With the limits the institutions have on what their inmates can do while working, I truly believe that there is no harm in letting them work. Having the prisoners work not only saves the institution money, but it teaches the inmates more skill-based tasks.

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3/4/2011

Zach
gahs, greencastle
I think that inmate labor is a good thing. It helps to save the government and state money. Prisoner labor helps to pay for them being in prison. When inmates perform these jobs it helps save money because those people don’t have to be paid to do the jobs the inmates are doing. According to Patrick George under a new program by Sheriff Gary Cutler, certain inmates may volunteer to help spruce up the once beleaguered facility in exchange for a reduction in their sentences. Inmates now work to clean the kitchen and cells, paint walls and floors, trim trees outside, and even wash the vehicles of the sheriff's office. The result is a cleaner facility for inmates and jail staff, and Cutler estimates that the inmates' work is saving the county $12 an hour. So, having inmates do these jobs can help to save money for other things that are needed in the prison such as food.

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3/4/2011

Gabe
Greencastle-Antrim HS, Greencastle, PA
I think this is a great way to help the large and growing deficit. Having inmates do work to save the government money. They are under the control of the government, so the government might as well use them for something. This also provides skills to the inmates when they leave. According to the US Department of Justice, there are 502,000 in the federal and state prison system as of 2009. Of course, not all the inmates would be working, for example the maximum security inmates would not work. Although, there are some major safety and health issues that will need to be dealt with before the federal prisons start doing this idea. There is also a vulnerability of prisoners smuggling in illegal drugs. Overall, I think this is a great idea.

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2/28/2011

Kelsey
GAHS, Greencastle, PA
I think that this is a good idea for how to put prisoners to work. I do think though that only the prisoners that show good behavior should get to do these types of jobs. According to greatlakesecho.org, the more time prisoners spend in the garden the less likely they are to repeat an offense. Also it saves the government money by having them do jobs like this, and if the prisoners do not return to jail after they get out after doing garden work and such jobs, then that will save the government money too. That is why I think that prisoners doing these types of jobs is a good thing.