Making license plates in all the states I know of is done by the correctional facilities. The rest of the jobs were all pertinent to the running of the prison. Just because there was TALK of using inmates for ag labor did not make it happen.
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I know the Texas state prisons years ago used prison inmates to farm on their properties. The food produced was used in feeding the staff and inmates. In bounty yield years, the surplus vegetables would be sold to local markets at a nominal price. ....Don’t know if they still do that.
At any rate, the prisoners preferred being outside and being productive rather than being cooped up in a 8x10 all day; and they ate well.
And I bet you and I agree that this was a good use of the their labor