Sen. Cory Booker questions US prison labor policies, calls for change

Prisoners should be learning professional skills that help prepare them for their release instead of being forced to work, sometimes picking crops in triple-digit heat for pennies an hour or nothing at all, Sen. Cory Booker said at a Senate judiciary subcommittee hearing on prison labor Tuesday.

America locks up more people than almost any other country in the world — nearly 2 million — and they are disproportionately people of color. Those who refuse to work can be punished, including being thrown into solitary confinement, Booker noted. And those injured or killed often do not have access to most basic rights and protections guaranteed to other American workers.

“Our prisons should reflect the best of who we are, they should reflect our values,” the New Jersey Democrat said. “And they should, in my strong opinion, be places that are not just for punishment, but for rehabilitation and for creating roads of redemption.”

While most incarcerated workers today help maintain correctional facilities, others are leased out to private companies or take part in work-release programs. Companies such as McDonald’s, KFC, Walmart, Cargill and Tyson Foods have benefited from the multibillion-dollar industry, The Associated Press found as part of an ongoing two-year investigation into how prison labor is quietly entering the supply chains of some of America’s most recognized companies and brands.

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