Brian Scott
Appearances
Freakonomics Radio
Highway Signs and Prison Labor
I can remember being given some of the most tedious jobs just to keep me busy.
Freakonomics Radio
Highway Signs and Prison Labor
We did everything from what they call inmate stationery, which is the paper that they gave us to write on, to, you know, we did a brochure that detailed all of the wineries across the entire state. It was always something different.
Freakonomics Radio
Highway Signs and Prison Labor
Yes, and the temporary tags that you get when you purchase a new vehicle.
Freakonomics Radio
Highway Signs and Prison Labor
It actually started at 13 cents. And then there was a raise that you got pretty soon to 20 cents. And then, you know, the 26 cents was when you were actually operating a machine or a computer. The crazy thing is it was actually one of the higher paying jobs. There were many people working back in the dorms, pushing brooms or whatever.
Freakonomics Radio
Highway Signs and Prison Labor
And they were making, you know, anywhere from 40 cents a day to maybe a dollar a day at the most.
Freakonomics Radio
Highway Signs and Prison Labor
There were some individuals who would have some of their pay taken out because they had received a lot of write-ups or they had some court-appointed fees. A write-up was $10. But when you're only making $15 and they take $10, it hurts.
Freakonomics Radio
Highway Signs and Prison Labor
Ramen noodle soup was maybe 25 cents. Coca-Cola was probably, I don't know, a dollar and a half. When you're considering that you're making $14 a week, you know, $1.50 to spend on a Coke is a lot of money. A lot of people couldn't afford that sort of thing.
Freakonomics Radio
Highway Signs and Prison Labor
I don't know how many green peppers I bought from guys who worked in the chow hall. That was the way that they tried to compensate for the pennies that they were being paid. We had people who would draw a picture of your child or your spouse, and you would pay them a fee for that.
Freakonomics Radio
Highway Signs and Prison Labor
The process was you would get the stick off of a broom. You would take one little square of toilet paper, which the state provided. You would wrap it around the stick. You would get it damp. And then you would roll it in the sage. That had to come out of the chow hall. They would sell little bottles of oil in the canteen, and I would dab it on the whole stick, let it dry, and there you go.
Freakonomics Radio
Highway Signs and Prison Labor
it really was a horrible place nobody liked being there it was off-site so you got bussed to this location bus back in and every day when you came back you had to go through a full strip search because the labor is so cheap they would have more people than they actually needed I can remember being given some of the most tedious jobs just to keep me busy.
Freakonomics Radio
Highway Signs and Prison Labor
There was a building that we had to pressure wash during the winter. There were picnic tables outside that we had to chip all the paint off of.
Freakonomics Radio
Highway Signs and Prison Labor
Correction Enterprises connected me with the printing company in Burlington that had expressed an interest in hiring people with criminal records. I think my starting pay was $15 an hour. That first paycheck, it was more money than I would make in almost an entire year working for Correction Enterprises.
Freakonomics Radio
Highway Signs and Prison Labor
I guarantee you there are stamps floating around the system that were purchased 25 years ago.