nmates have the opportunity to literally pay their debt to society by compensation for some of the high prison costs, save money for themselves, as well as learn valuable skills which may keep them out of prison. A popular argument used by opponents to prison labor is that it poses a threat to the general population. Many positions that prison laborers hold give them access to regular peoples personal information including credit card and social security numbers. And their concern is that a convicted felon will use this information for his or her own purpose. This argument has several pitfalls. Assuming that an inmate does use someones credit card, the truth will eventually come out, it will be traced to the inmate, and since identity fraud is a crime, this individual will be adding time to his or her existing prison term which is a no win situation for the inmate. The other factor is that very often identity fraud is committed by regular people or trustworthy employees with no past criminal record. A perfect example will be a few of my own former co-workers who were caught using clients credit cards as well as stealing money. There is no way of knowing what a person may do. Plus assuming that an inmate cannot be reformed is what forces some of them back to prisons since the label of an ex con prevents them from getting jobs that will enable them to support themselves....
