šŸ’° ā€˜You’re a slave’: Inside Louisiana’s forced prison labor and a failed overhaul attempt

TL;DR

BATON ROUGE — Breakfast at Louisiana’s state Capitol includes fresh coffee, cookies and egg sandwiches — made and served in part by incarcerated people working for no pay.Some observers and proponents of the Louisiana amendment attributed the result to the convoluted wording of the ballot question, which was changed to appease Republican lawmakers.ā€œLouisiana law mandates that state inmates, necessarily serving a felony conviction, are required by law to work while incarcerated,ā€ said a statement from the corrections department provided by Pastorick after the ballot measure was voted down.Inmates arrived early each morning from Dixon Correctional Institute dressed in khaki shirts and green trousers; prison uniforms that have numbers sewn onto the breast.But we don’t get paid and they work us a lot.ā€ They described being forced to work and not having a choice in their job."

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