US prison labor is cruel and pointless legalized slavery. I know first-hand

It costs New York around $70,000 a year in taxpayer money to imprison someone. It costs the BPI about $10,000 a year to educate an incarcerated student. New York's recidivism rate is 40%, while graduates of the BPI and similar programs recidivate at only 4%, a tenfold decrease. Yet, despite its clear positive record, only 300 of New York's 30,000 incarcerated people are enrolled at the BPI in any given semester. I was one of a lucky few. 

Prisons are designed to warehouse, traumatize and exploit people, then send them back home in worse shape than when they entered the system. Despite having worked every day, the vast majority of people are released with no job experience, no references and no hope. Some would take this to mean that the system is failing. And it is with regard to public safety, rehabilitation and justice, but it's horrifyingly successful at two things: guaranteeing jobs for some and perpetuating slavery for others…

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2023/sep/22/us-prison-labor-is-cruel-and-pointless-legalized-slavery-i-know-first-hand

Why The U.S. Prison System Makes Mental Illness Worse (And How We Might Fix It) (Terry Gross, Fresh Air)

Dr. Christine Montross says in the U.S., people with serious mental illnesses are far more likely to be incarcerated than to be treated in a psychiatric hospital. Montross studied systemic change in the Norwegian prison system, and what the U.S. might learn from it. Her new book is 'Waiting for an Echo.'

Interview: 

https://www.npr.org/2020/07/16/891869209/why-the-u-s-prison-system-makes-mental-illness-worse-and-how-we-might-fix-it

Jail Inmates Worked for a $16 Billion Company Without Pay. Now They Want Their Wages. – Mother Jones

The last time Bert Davis was booked into Santa Rita Jail in Dublin, California, he was assigned to Housing Unit 31, the pod for inmate workers, and promptly sent to work in the facility’s industrial kitchen. This was routine for Davis, who had cycled in and out of Alameda County’s main jail over the years, either awaiting trial or serving sentences for minor charges like drug possession and joyriding. He had a reputation as a hard worker who was willing to volunteer for extra shifts or stay overtime. ....
https://www.motherjones.com/crime-justice/2020/01/alameda-santa-rita-jail-aramark-unpaid-wages-lawsuit/