Prisoners should work, but it should be to reduce the cost of their upkeep - laundry, meals, landscaping, etc.
The last thing we want is to create a situation where profits can be made from incarcerated labor. Imagine what would happen - in terms of lobbying, and corruption - if GE, or Monsanto, for example, could use convict labor. It would be a slippery slope. We’d slide down it fast.
Finally some shovel ready jobs
Very, very good point.