I don't think inmates working is a bad thing at all. Texas actually used to do prisons right. They were nearly completely self-sufficient with inmates farming, ranching, etc. for them to live on. I think they even made their own clothing. And I think community service things like trash pickup are great too.

At the end of the day, keeping people in prison is expensive for the taxpayers, so I don't see a problem with having prisoners offset that. And that's the reason I think only violent repeat offenders should be incarcerated. Let everyone else continue contributing to society and use different methods to rehabilitate them.

A lot of inmates haven't really ever had real steady employment, so if the goal is rehabilitation giving them the experience will only help them when they get out.

Not to mention that people just like to work in general. I know that I'd rather be doing something than staring at my cell wall for the majority of the day.

But I do agree that inmates doing labor for for-profit businesses is something that should never happen.