The problem with your question is that you are thinking of it from your own perspective of what I am assuming is a fairly privileged background, since you do not seem to have any actual knowledge of what prison is like in the US. read more
Second, forced hard labor was used in some prison systems, not all that long ago. It can be argued that it is still used today, albeit with reduced penalties and disincentives for refusing to work. In graduate school, I read a book called Alabama Bound. read more
The current structure of the criminal justice system and state-imposed forced labor in the United States are deeply rooted in the legacies of slavery and the aftermath of the Civil War. The timeline below details pivotal policies and milestones since the war that have shaped the way this country thinks about and deals with crime, prisoners and labor. read more