extremely mad because my relative in American prison has let me know that from now on, instead of being charged once per book or per song and having the files added permanently to his account, he's going to ALSO be charged by the minute to read or listen to music on the tablets that are the only things they're allowed to use.
reminder that paying prisoners (vastly) less than minimum wage is legal in the US because they're defined as an exception to anti-slavery laws.
@IanAMartin @0xabad1dea well, that, and also, we need a constitutional amendment that closes the loophole that was left open in the 13th amendment (the "except as punishment" part), so that the new rule will be:
"Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude shall exist within the United States, or any place subject to their jurisdiction."
There is already a proposal for this:
https://www.merkley.senate.gov/wp-content/uploads/imo/media/doc/The%20Abolition%20Amendment%20One%20Pager%20-%20117th_.pdf
@0xabad1dea terribly sorry for the situation your friend is in. @pluralistic has a character in The Bezel in that situation.
We once had a work volunteer day where we helped pack books for shipment to prisoners, back when they could actually get paper books. The restrictions on what they were allowed to receive was just capricious and cruel.
In many ways, we live in a dystopian present
@0xabad1dea what kind of fresh hell is this
Reading and listening to music are activities that prisoners should be encouraged to be doing! Not freakin’ being *charged by the minute* for the ‘privilege’ of doing.
😡
Because prison is punishment for people being poor.
Let me guess. Is this a private prison?
(Private prisons are a thing that should not exist, but somehow do in modern America.)
Yeah. Maybe so. The prison industry in this country is a crime, which is as ironic as it is tragic.
@bruce @0xabad1dea yep, private prison facilities are still relatively rare, actually. The bigger and more immediate problem is the treatment of prisoners even in public prisons; and that includes the extremely expensive “prison services” industry.
$0.30/hr for prison labor and $0.05/minute to read is obscene, and even moreso that it further punishes people who have reading difficulties.
@bruce @0xabad1dea Scholars and activist have coined the name prison–industrial complex for it. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prison%E2%80%93industrial_complex#Structure If you look at the history paragraph of that page the last change mentioned in the page was 2019.
I'm following an account on Mastodon which is about books for prisoners (lots of books are denied to enter prisons). I can't recall the account name but I'm all for more attention for this USA industry problem. #usa #prisons #prisoners
@0xabad1dea it is unbelievably cruel.
The punishment is "restricted freedom" - yet the system adds all kinds if dehumanizing insults on top.
All because they made it a for-profit industry.
"How can I profit even more directly and cravenly from the skin batteries we stockpile in our business?" asked the CEO of a criminal justice big box store.
Do you feel comfortable sharing what state and/or which prison he is in? I wish to contact the ACLU.
Oh, that's just the US prison system initiating and realtesting pioneering monetization strategies for capital interests! Nothing to see here, all systems normal. Move along....
😃
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