Does low inmate pay in Maryland resemble slavery?
The Baltimore Sun sheds light on inmate pay in the DPSCS. Inmates don’t get paid a lot. They get paid a few dollars a day if they are lucky. Not all inmates even get the opportunity to have a job and when they do, they aren’t in a position complain about low wages. Inmates in Maryland help run the prisons they are in. Most facilities wouldn’t be able to function without the inmates working jobs like sanitation, food prep and food service, library, recreation and equipment distribution and various clerk and clerical roles.
MCE stands for Maryland Correctional Enterprises and it is a $50 Million dollar a year business that the state of Maryland benefits from on the backs of inmates making a dollar or so a day. The Baltimore Sun on January 2, 2020 had a great article detailing the situation and how it is not so simple to demand more pay for fear that the inmates will lose their opportunity for income altogether. More importantly it highlights the strong similarity to modern day slavery since 70% of the inmate population is African American. Here is the article below. It’s a great read.
