Should prisoners get paid minimum wage for jobs done in prison?

[Mr Khan]

SamuelRSmith said:

SvennoJ said:

Yes privatization and especially for profit prisons is one step too far.
Treating offenders as a commodity is morally wrong and comes awfully close to the definition of slavery:

Slavery is a system under which people are treated as property to be bought and sold, and are forced to work

So, wait, when individuals operate prisons, it's morally wrong, and close to slavery? But when the state does it, it's A-OK?

Privatization encourages profiteering, which encourages the use of prisoners as de facto slaves. If it was on the taxpayer dime, there'd be less incentive to exploit prisoners. It would be wrong if the state does it, and it is wrong that the state allows it to be done under their watch, but if it were wholly the realm of the state, it would be less likely to occur. Or at least if the state exploited prison labor purely for public-works purposes, then the people as a whole would benefit, rather than a few profiteers.