[hjanssen]

This does ignore the damage done to the free market though. Every job that a prison inmate takes up, is a job that could be taken by a non-criminal and which would pay for at least federal minimum wage.

I'd call the difference of prison wage and the minimum wage lost money.

[naasking]

I agree there are externalities to consider for a proper proposal, my purpose here was only to argue that compelled labour without minimum wage compensation isn't intrinsically wrong, it depends on the specific implementation.