Passage 1
The state’s property right in the prisoner’s labor exists by virtue of the 13th Amendment of the Constitution of the United States which provides that slavery or involuntary servitude may be a punishment for crime, after due process of law. This property right the state may lease or retain for its own use, the manner being set forth in state constitutions and acts of legislatures. To make this of material value the prisoner’s labor must be productive. The distribution of the product of the prisoner’s labor inevitably presents the problem of competition. The confounding of the evil of penal servitude with the methods of production and the methods of distribution which have grown out of it has produced a confusion in the thought underlying prison labor regulation by legislative enactment.
The usual penological analysis of prison labor into lease, contract, piece-price, public account and state-use systems is impossible to use in an economic analysis of the labor conditions involved. Economically two systems of convict production and two systems of distribution of convict-made goods exist; production is either by the state or under individual enterprise: distribution is either limited to the preferred state use market or through the general competitive market. In the light of such classification the convict labor legislation of the current year shows definite tendencies toward the state’s assumption of its responsibility for its own use of the prisoner on state lands, in state mines and as operatives in state factories; while in distribution the competition of the open market, with its disastrous effect upon prices, tends to give place to the use of labor and commodities by the state itself in its manifold activities.
Improvements like these in the production and distribution of the products mitigate evils, but in no vital way affect the economic injustice always inherent under a slave system. The payment of wage to the convict as a right growing out of his production of valuable commodities is the phase of this legislation which tends to destroy the slavery condition. Such legislation has made its appearance, together with the first suggestion of the right of choice allowed to the convict in regard to his occupation.
The expression of these tendencies found in the legislation of 1911 comes to view in diverse states and a confusion of statutes in which every shade of development is present. The prisoner received compensation for labor in six states, his dependent family was given assistance in five, while Nevada gave him the right to choose between working on the roads or working indoors. The antagonism of organized labor to the distribution of the products of the convict’s labor on the open market resulted in the passage in Montana, Oregon and California of laws requiring branding of convict made goods.
In a word, the economic progress in prison labor shown in the legislation of 1911 is toward more efficient production by the elimination of the profits of the leasee, more economical distribution by the substitution of a preferred market where the profits of the middleman are eliminated in place of the unfair competition with the products of free labor in the open markets, and finally the curtailment of the slave system by the provisions for wages and choice of occupation for the man in penal servitude. National Prisoners’ Aid Association. (1911). The Review, Volume I, No. 9. Project Gutenberg.
Based on the opinions expressed in this passage, the author is least likely to support which of the following:
A) The continued existence of prison labor in its present form at the time of this passage’s creation
B) State-by-state differences regarding the regulatory framework governing prisoner labor
C) The absolute rule of legitimately-created law in a civil society
D) Regulations that increase autonomy for incarcerated individuals
Correct answer is A. The author makes several statements throughout the passage to suggest that they hold a negative opinion towards slavery in its current state. For example, the author refers to “the evil of penal servitude” and later mentions “curtailing the slave system,” suggesting that the author lacks wholehearted acceptance for the current system of prisoner labor.
Elsewhere, the author notes that improvements have been made in the way that slave labor is regulated and distributed, yet “in no vital way transform the economic injustice always inherent under a slave system,” a statement that indicates a fundamental disagreement with the slave system overall. While the author certainly discusses the various viewpoints of how prisoners’ labor should be managed, governed, distributed, and profited from, this discussion does not imply support for the underlying existence of “penal servitude,” and in fact the passage indicates the opposite. For this reason, the correct choice is Answer A.
The author clearly agrees with the assertion that there is no broad consensus about how to regulate and govern prisoner labor, as evidenced by the fact that the author references how various states have approached the question in a different manner. The author explicitly notes how there “has [been] produced a confusion in the thought underlying prison labor regulation by legislative enactment,” and this central idea sets up the rest of the author’s discussion for how this has played out in different jurisdictions. In general, the author does not indicate that this lack of broad consensus is a problem, and in general, praises the effects of the various legislative efforts of 1911 despite the specific differences across various states.
For this reason, the statement in Answer C is not the choice that the author is least likely to support. Although the author does not exhibit strong support for the existence of “penal servitude,” as described above, the author does demonstrate a firm belief in the rule of law: “the state’s ownership over prisoner labor exists by virtue of the 13th Amendment of the Constitution.” By giving reference to the United States Constitution, and then, later in the passage, by describing numerous local and state laws that have governed the management and distribution of prisoners’ labor, the author indicates their belief that the regulation of penal servitude, among other things, should be done through appropriate legislative channels, and that, when this is carried out, these laws are legitimate and binding. For this reason, the author is likely to support the statement in Answer C.
Finally, the author clearly supports increased autonomy for incarcerated individuals. Not only does the author disagree with the existence of “penal servitude” in general, as described above, but the author furthermore speaks in a positive tone about legislation “curtailing the slave system by…offering choices for the prisoner.” Whether through wages, increased choices, or other mechanisms that would promote greater autonomy, the author clearly supports greater choices for the imprisoned.
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