inmates

The United States has the world’s highest incarceration rate, with more than 2.2 million people in prison. And within the United States, the highest incarceration rate belongs to Washington, D.C. There, a new worker-owned business cooperative hopes to reverse those numbers, offering former prisoners opportunities for employment and healing. Though co-ops that employ formerly incarcerated people already exist, Tightshift Laboring Cooperative is the first Washington, D.C., co-op formed and operated by ex-prisoners. The co-op offers an array of manual labor services, including residential and commercial cleaning, hauling and moving, and landscaping. It also uses eco-friendly products to provide customers with affordable, high-quality cleaning services. Unbeknownst to his family, Reid ...

This is a question raised by a radio program this morning. The cost for incarceration of prisoners is soaring and the numbers of inmates are increasing. This has put an enormous burden on governments and taxpayers who pay for them doing their time. It would make sense, therefore, to put a charge on them. Many prisoners in Australian jails are millionaires in the real world and can well afford to pay for their crimes in more ways than one. In some overseas jails, such as in Venezuela, images were smuggled out to show how starving inmates are ignored by the government. That country is in financial crisis and would appear to have massive human-rights abuses in many sectors of the community. In its communities many are starving and the situation may turn into a civil war. In North Korea t...

Tag: inmates

The New Co-op Helping Ex-Inmates Find Work—and Recover

Should Inmates Be Charged for Their Time in Jail?