Alabama profits off prisoners who work at McDonald’s but deems them too dangerous for parole
- Alabama has generated over $250 million from prisoner labor since 2000 by contracting inmates to private companies, making it the state with the longest profit-driven history in this practice.
- In 2023, only 8% of eligible prisoners in Alabama were granted parole, the lowest rate in the nation.
- Prison labor is allowed under the 13th Amendment of the U.S. Constitution, which permits involuntary servitude for those convicted of crimes.
- Arthur Ptomey was denied parole in 2022 after losing his job at KFC, where he complained about low wages.
29 Articles
29 Articles
Alabama profits off prisoners who work at McDonald's but deems them too dangerous for parole
A storm was looming when the inmate serving 20 years for armed robbery was assigned to transport fellow prisoners to their jobs at private manufacturers supplying goods to companies like Home Depot and Wayfair. It didn't matter that Jake Jones once had escaped or that he had failed two drug and alcohol tests while in lockup — he was unsupervised and technically in charge.
Prison labour: Alabama convicts work at McDonald's
No state has a longer, more profit-driven history of contracting prisoners out to private companies than Alabama. With a sprawling labour system that dates back more than 150 years — including the brutal convict leasing era that replaced slavery — it has constructed a template for the commercialization of mass incarceration.
Associated Press News
Alabama profits off prisoners who work at McDonald’s but deems them too dangerous for parole
No state has a longer, more profit-driven history of contracting prisoners out to private companies than Alabama. Best Western, Bama Budweiser and Burger King are among the more than 500
Alabama Gets $250M From Inmate Private Labor; Few Are Paroled
A storm loomed when Alabama inmate Jake Jones, serving 20 years for armed robbery, was assigned to drive six fellow prisoners to jobs at manufacturers supplying companies like Home Depot and Wayfair. It didn’t matter that Jones had escaped or that he had failed two drug and alcohol tests while in lockup. The rain was heavy when Jones was driving back to the work release center. The speeding van hit a dip and swerved on the wet pavement, slammin…
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