Governor’s Houses Are Staffed By Prisoners
What would it take for you to be able to spend a bit of time at a fancy politician’s party or to be able to tend to the gardens that state leaders call home during their terms? Well, apparently, in some cases, all you have to do is have a jail sentence to your name. Yep, at last count, at least seven states use inmates as staff at governors’ mansions and capitol buildings. Some of them are paid a little pittance for their work, be it gardening, catering, or janitorial duties, and some of them aren’t even paid at all.
Now, there are a few rules. We can’t have just murderers traipsing around serving fruit tarts. Usually, a convict has to be associated with a nonviolent crime, go through a whole screening process, and possess a pretty good record while in the clink. It seems the American South really loves the practice of using prisoners in state government facilities. Louisiana has them grabbing lunch orders for legislators, while other states have inmates sweep and mop the halls of their respective state lawmaker buildings.
It all has its root in the 13th Amendment, which abolished slavery, yes, but still allowed for the perpetuation of slavery in regards to prisons. Just read the language:
“Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, except as a punishment for crime whereof the party shall have been duly convicted, shall exist within the United States, or any place subject to their jurisdiction.”
White politicians back then quickly noticed that without slaves, their economies were failing hard. So they came up with the idea of vagrancy laws, which of course, took aim at Black people, sending them to prison and building up a free workforce once again. And so it still remains in modern days, though a little more subtle. Pearl-clutching socialites like former First Lady of Arkansas Hillary Clinton swear it helps prisoners begin to acclimate back to society in anticipation of being released. Any job application that asks whether you’ve ever been convicted of a crime says otherwise.
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Government Furniture Is Built By Prisoners
There is a company in America called UNICOR, which is one letter away from being something magical. The reality, however, is that the corporation is also known as the more diabolical-sounding FPI, or Federal Prison Industries. There are 109 factories that FPI operates, with their “employees” being prison inmates, making somewhere around 23 cents an hour. FPI facilities crank out goods for the Departments of Justice and Defense in particular, like body armor, police uniforms, and even parts for Patriot missiles. They also make a whole lot of office furniture.
5 Shockinging Everyday Things Made By Prisoners
Source: Pinoy Daily News
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