[gumby]

Prisons are hugely profitable (see the video elsewhere of the Louisiana sheriff) and the prison industrial complex throws off so much cash that its lobbying effort is one of the largest in California (and is why we still have, for example, the three strikes law)

[dominotw]

sorry I was referring to GP's comment about cheap labor, not the profitability of prison itself.

Are private companies generating significant profit off of cheap prison labor ? Am I buying something from a walmart shelve made from prison labor ?

[gumby]

> Am I buying something from a walmart shelve made from prison labor ?

Yep.

A quick google search with that very question finds lots of entries, many of course with an axe to grind. The Economist is rather dispassionate on the subject though: https://www.economist.com/news/united-states/21718897-idaho-...

But if you interact with the government, go to McDonalds, etc you're using prison labor. Whole Foods too (http://theweek.com/articles/630907/corporate-america-secret-...)

I said "yep" because I figured you were asking a general question; in the specific case Walmart's position is that they don't use prison labor (but plenty of web sites will tell you it's not true. Here's Huffpo: https://www.huffingtonpost.com/al-norman/walmart-prison-labo...).

This link is pretty good but requires a bit more epistemological digging: https://www.cagedbirdmagazine.com/single-post/2017/03/28/50-...

[dominotw]

oh wow. I had no idea. Thank you for the information.

[drspacemonkey]

At WalMart, yes. Also JC Penny, Victoria's Secret, K-Mart, and Starbucks have all used prison labor. There's also prison call centers, such as those used by American Airlines and Avis.