Prison farm

Mississippi State Penitentiary, an American prison farm in Sunflower County, Mississippi
Louisiana State Penitentiary, an American prison farm in West Feliciana Parish, Louisiana

A prison farm is a large correctional facility where penal labor convicts are put to economical use in a farm (in the wide sense of a productive unit), usually for manual labor, largely in open air, such as in agriculture, logging, quarrying, and mining. The concepts of prison farm and labor camp overlap. The historical equivalent on a very large scale was called a penal colony.[1]

The agricultural goods produced by prison farms are generally used primarily to feed the prisoners themselves and other wards of the state (residents of orphanages, asylums, etc.), and secondarily, to be sold for whatever profit the state may be able to obtain.[2]

In addition to being forced to labor directly for the government on a prison farm or in a penal colony, inmates may be forced to do farm work for private enterprises by being farmed out through the practice of convict leasing to work on private agricultural lands or related industries (fishing, lumbering, etc.). The party purchasing their labor from the government generally does so at a steep discount from the cost of free labor.[1]

Depending on the prevailing doctrine on judicial punishment and penal harm, psychological and/or physical cruelty may be a conscious intent of prison farm labor, and not just an inevitable but unintended collateral effect.

Louisiana State Penitentiary is the largest prison farm covering 18000 acres, and is surrounded on three sides by the Mississippi River [3]

Other prison industries

Convicts may also be leased for non-agricultural work, either directly to state entities, or to private industry. For example, prisoners may make license plates under contract to the state Department of Motor Vehicles, work in textile or other state run factories, or may perform data processing for outside firms. These laborers are typically considered to be a part of prison industries and not prison farms.

In the United States (partial list)

StateFacilityType of work
AlabamaDraper Correctional FacilityFarming [4]
AlabamaG.K. Fountain Correctional FacilityCattle and Agricultural Operations, and Vegetable Gardens [5]
AlabamaLimestone Correctional FacilityCattle and Farming [6]
AlaskaPoint MacKenzie Correctional FarmHogs, Cattle, Turkeys, and Chickens, Produce Operations, and Hydroponics Program [7]
ArkansasCummins UnitHorse and Agricultural Operations [8]
ArkansasEast Arkansas Regional UnitFarming [9]
ArkansasGrimes UnitAgricultural Gardening Program [10]
ArkansasNorth Central UnitGarden and Forage Production [11]
ArkansasOuachita River UnitLivestock and Forage Production, Gravel Harvesting [12]
ArkansasPine Bluff UnitHorse operation [13]
ArkansasTucker UnitAgricultural Operations [14]
ArkansasWrightsville UnitHorse Operations, Agricultural Operations [15]
CaliforniaCalifornia State Prison, CorcoranDairy/Milk Processing [16]
CaliforniaCentral California Women's FacilityFarming [17]
CaliforniaValley State PrisonFarming [18]
CaliforniaWasco State PrisonFarming [19]
ColoradoBuena Vista Correctional ComplexFish Hatchery [20]
ColoradoFour Mile Correctional CenterDairy, Wild Horse Inmate Program [21]
ColoradoRifle Correctional CenterTimber [22]
ColoradoSkyline Correctional CenterFish Hatchery, Farming, Vineyard, Goat and Water Buffalo Dairy, Mountain Sheep [23]
FloridaApalachee Correctional Institution, West Unit / P.R.I.D.E.Beef Cattle, Lumber, Agricultural [24]
FloridaCharlotte Correctional Institution / P.R.I.D.E.Citrus [25]
FloridaUnion Correctional Institution / P.R.I.D.E.Beef Cattle, Lumber [26]
GeorgiaArrendale State PrisonCattle and Swine, Hay Farming [27]
GeorgiaDooly State PrisonFarm Services [28]
GeorgiaMontgomery State PrisonPoultry and Egg Production [29]
GeorgiaRogers State PrisonDairy, Beef Cattle, Swine, Farming [30]
GeorgiaWashington State PrisonFarming [31]
HawaiiHalawa Correctional Facility / Hawaii Correctional IndustriesFarming [32]
HawaiiWaiawa Correctional FacilityFarming [33]
LouisianaLouisiana State PenitentiaryFarming

The 13th Amendment to the United States Constitution, which ended slavery, specifically perpetuated the concept of penal servitude – i.e., unfree labor as a punishment for a crime.

Britain had a long history of penal servitude even prior to the passage of the Penal Servitude Act of 1853, and routinely used convict labor to settle its conquests, either through penal colonies or by selling convicts to settlers to serve as slaves for a term of years as indentured servants.

Scope

The Clemens Unit, a prison farm in Brazoria County, Texas
The Cummins Unit, a prison farm in Lincoln County, Arkansas

This type of penal institution has mainly been implanted in rural regions of vast countries. For example, the following passage describes the prison system of the U.S. state of Virginia in the early twentieth century:

"The state prison is at Raleigh, although most of the convicts are distributed upon farms owned and operated by the state. The lease system does not prevail, but the farming out of convict labor is permitted by the constitution; such labor is used chiefly for the building of railways, the convicts so employed being at all times cared for and guarded by state officials. A reformatory for white youth between the ages of seven and sixteen, under the name of the Stonewall Jackson Manual Training and Industrial School, was opened at Concord in 1909, and in March 1909 the Foulk Reformatory and Manual Training School for negro youth was provided for. Charitable and penal institutions are under the supervision of a Board of Public Charities, appointed by the governor for a period of six years, the terms of the different members expiring in different years. Private institutions for the care of the insane, idiots, feeble-minded and inebriates may be established, but must be licensed and regulated by the state board and become legally a part of the system of public charities."

In 21st-century Illinois, several prisons continue to run farms to produce food for wards of the state, including the prisoners themselves. The 1911 Britannica also reported that the state of Rhode Island had a farm of 667 acres (2.70 km2) in the southern part of Cranston City housing (and presumably taking labor from):

"the state prison, the Providence county jail, the state workhouse and the house of correction, the state almshouse, the state hospital for the insane, the Sockanosset school for boys, and the Oaklawn school for girls, the last two being departments of the state reform school."[34]

There are prison farms in other countries. Canada had six prison farms, where up to 800 inmates did everything from tending pigs to milking cows until they were closed in 2010 by the Conservative government. The Current Liberal government is conducting feasibility studies to determine if the program can be restarted.[35]

In fiction

Films featuring prison farms and forced prison labor:

See also

References

  1. 1 2 "D.A. McCall, Secretary of the Mississippi Baptist Convention Board, Baptizes Convicts on a Prison Farm near Parchman on 18 August 1946". Crime and Punishment: Essential Primary Sources , 2006.
  2. ↑ Lunau, Kate. "Canada to shut down all prison farms". Maclean's, April 13, 2009.
  3. ↑ Glenday, Craig (2013). 2014 Guinness World Records Limited. p. 132. ISBN 978-1-908843-15-9.
  4. ↑ "Draper Correctional Facility. (2013). Retrieved June 9, 2015". Doc.state.al.us. Retrieved 2018-03-20.
  5. ↑ "Fountain Correctional Facility. (2013). Retrieved June 9, 2015". Doc.state.al.us. Retrieved 2018-03-20.
  6. ↑ "Limestone Correctional Facility. (2013). Retrieved June 9, 2015". Doc.state.al.us. Retrieved 2018-03-20.
  7. ↑ "Point Mackenzie Correctional Farm History. (n.d.). Retrieved June 9, 2015". Correct.state.ak.us. Retrieved 2018-03-20.
  8. ↑ Cummins Unit. (2011). Retrieved June 9,2015 Archived 2016-03-18 at the Wayback Machine.
  9. ↑ East Arkansas Regional Unit. (2011). Retrieved June 9,2015 Archived 2011-06-28 at the Wayback Machine.
  10. ↑ Grimes Unit. (2011). Retrieved June 9,2015
  11. ↑ North Central Unit. (2011). Retrieved June 9,2015
  12. ↑ Ouachita River Unit. (2011). Retrieved June 9,2015 Archived 2015-09-18 at the Wayback Machine.
  13. ↑ Pine Bluff Unit. (2011). Retrieved June 9,2015
  14. ↑ Tucker Unit. (2011). Retrieved June 9,2015
  15. ↑ Wrightsville Unit. (2011). Retrieved June 9,2015
  16. ↑ California State Prison, Corcoran (CSP-COR). (2014). Retrieved June 9, 2015
  17. ↑ Central California Women's Facility (CCWF). (2014). Retrieved June 9, 2015
  18. ↑ "Valley State Prison (VSP). (2014). Retrieved June 9, 2015". Cdcr.ca.gov. Retrieved 2018-03-20.
  19. ↑ "Wasco State Prison-Reception Center (WSP). (2014). Retrieved June 9, 2015". Cdcr.ca.gov. 2017-04-04. Retrieved 2018-03-20.
  20. ↑ BVCC - Buena Vista Correctional Complex | Department of Corrections. (n.d.). Retrieved June 9, 2015 Archived June 10, 2015, at the Wayback Machine.
  21. ↑ FMCC - Four Mile Correctional Center | Department of Corrections. (n.d.). Retrieved June 9, 2015 Archived August 4, 2014, at the Wayback Machine.
  22. ↑ RCC - Rifle Correctional Center | Department of Corrections. (n.d.). Retrieved June 9, 2015 Archived June 10, 2015, at the Wayback Machine.
  23. ↑ SCC - Skyline Correctional Center | Department of Corrections. (n.d.). Retrieved June 9, 2015 Archived August 4, 2014, at the Wayback Machine.
  24. ↑ "Apalachee Correctional Institution, West. (n.d.). Retrieved June 9, 2015". Dc.state.fl.us. Retrieved 2018-03-20.
  25. ↑ "Charlotte Correctional Institution. (n.d.). retrieved June 9, 2015". Dc.state.fl.us. Retrieved 2018-03-20.
  26. ↑ "Union Correctional Institution. (n.d.). retrieved June 9, 2015". Dc.state.fl.us. Retrieved 2018-03-20.
  27. ↑ "Arrendale State Prison. (n.d.). retrieved June 9, 2015". Dcor.state.ga.us. 2000-01-01. Retrieved 2018-03-20.
  28. ↑ "Dooly State Prison. (n.d.). retrieved June 9, 2015". Dcor.state.ga.us. 2000-01-01. Retrieved 2018-03-20.
  29. ↑ "Montgomery State Prison. (n.d.). retrieved June 9, 2015". Dcor.state.ga.us. 2000-01-01. Retrieved 2018-03-20.
  30. ↑ "Rogers State Prison. (n.d.). retrieved June 9, 2015". Dcor.state.ga.us. 2000-01-01. Retrieved 2018-03-20.
  31. ↑ "Washington State Prison. (n.d.). retrieved June 9, 2015". Dcor.state.ga.us. 2000-01-01. Retrieved 2018-03-20.
  32. ↑ "Halawa Correctional Facility. (2015). retrieved June 9, 2015". Dps.hawaii.gov. 2018-03-08. Retrieved 2018-03-20.
  33. ↑ "Waiawa Correctional Facility. (2015). retrieved June 9, 2015". Dps.hawaii.gov. 2018-03-08. Retrieved 2018-03-20.
  34. ↑ Wikisource Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Cranston". Encyclopædia Britannica. 7 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 378.
  35. ↑ "'Strong support' for reopening prison farms, government consultation finds | CTV News". Ctvnews.ca. 2016-11-09. Retrieved 2018-03-20.
  36. ↑ Chain Gang (1950) Turner Classic Movies
  37. ↑ "Iwahig Penal Farm". Philippine Bureau of Corrections:accessdate=21 Nov 2017.
  • Wikisource Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Prison § Prison Industries". Encyclopædia Britannica. 22 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 369.

Further reading

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