These are our prisoners, not our slaves. The question is a moral one. They should not be forced to work.
If it is a voluntary decision that can benefit them in their rehabilitation, or reduced time, etc., then fine.
We are slave owners, or we are not.
Now, I don’t want to get into a discussion about punishment. The question was regarding forced labor.
I’ll kindly end it there as I don’t feel up to typing out a book this morning.
> I’ll kindly end it there as I don’t feel up to typing out a book this morning.
(grin!) Fair enough.
I guess that is one key difference between your flavor of Conservatism and mine. I see nothing immoral about requiring convicts to work for their sustainance: quite the contrary. I believe it is immoral for them not to and would have no compunctions about requiring it, as the concept enjoys full support from the ultimate Conservative document, Holy Writ.
That’s one of the key advantages to Conservatism: differing conservative viewpoints can be accommodated without compromising the key underlying principles that make Conservatism — well — conservative.