Some are sentenced to hard labor and forced to work – or face punishment – and are sometimes paid pennies an hour or nothing at all.
While prison labor seeps into the supply chains of some companies through third-party suppliers without them knowing, others buy direct.
The AP reached out for comment to the companies it identified as having connections to prison labor, but most did not respond.
Corrections officials and other proponents note that not all work is forced and that prison jobs save taxpayers money.
They also aren’t learning skills that will help them when they are released,” said law professor Andrea Armstrong, an expert on prison labor at Loyola University New Orleans.
Persons:
They’re, they’ve, Russell Stover, Bunge, Louis Dreyfus, Archer Daniels, Cargill, ” McDonald’s, Mills, ” Bunge, they’re, ”, David Farabough, don’t, Andrea Armstrong, Columbia University’s Ira A, Lipman
Organizations:
Associated Press, Kroger, Target, Aldi, U.S, Walmart, Costco –, Washington, American Civil Liberties Union, AP, Maine Foods, Taylor Farms, Archer Daniels Midland, Consolidated, Foods, Corrections, Loyola University New Orleans, Public Welfare Foundation, Columbia, Lipman Center for Journalism, Arnold Ventures
Locations:
U.S, Idaho, In Kansas, Cal, Arizona, Tennessee , Arkansas, Ohio, Arkansas, Investigative@ap.org