[jmyeet]

"Voluntary" is a very blurry line, which is why I think the prisoners should be meaningfully paid.

The US prison system uses "commissary" to further extract wealth from prisoners and their families. We give prisoners substandard food and (usually) insufficient calories. How do they make that up? By paying out of pocket at commissary. And of course everything is overpriced.

Prison phone companies have historically gouged prisoners to keep in touch with family.

We even give female inmates insufficient sanitary products and, to get more, they need to see a doctor. But don't worry, we've financialized that too, as many states require a "co-pay" that might be $6 to see a doctor.

Now that doesn't sound like a lot. But remember if you have a prison job, which you pretty much have to in many prisons, you might be makihng 30 cents an hour.

So on top of forced incarceration, paid for by the state, we just have all these private profit opportunities that prisoners are coerced into.