THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Tuesday, July 19, 1994 TAG: 9407190012
SECTION: FRONT PAGE: A10 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Editorial
LENGTH: Short : 49 lines
Gov. George F. Allen and Attorney General James Gilmore see Virginia prisons as a source of low-wage earners to help stem the migration of American companies to foreign countries because they cannot afford rising labor costs. The idea should appeal to taxpayers, who want inmates to work for their keep; to prisoners, who need skills they can use when they are released; and to companies, which must reduce labor costs if they are to compete in a global market.
Mr. Gilmore continues to advance the idea of ``factories behind fences,'' as he did during last year's campaign, and Gov. Allen suggested last week that Virginia should compete with China's cheap prison labor by inviting into its prisons industries that can no longer afford the costs of manufacturing or assembling products in the United States. Unlike China, Virginia would not force prisoners to work; they would have paying jobs that, among other benefits, would enable some inmates to pay restitution to their victims and help support their families.
Industry inside prisons would be an incentive for more of Virginia's approximately 23,000 inmates to be productive instead of idling away their time and learning little more than how to be worse criminals.
Virginia Correctional Enterprises, an agency of the Department of Corrections, employs only 1,370 prisoners in its labor programs, ranging from making license plates to building office furniture and providing data services. None of the prisoners' pay, from 55 cents to 85 cents an hour, now goes for room and board.
With private-industry expansion, prisoners could earn more money and help pay operating costs of new prisons, which surely will be needed as part of the governor's get-tough-on-crime proposals. As determined as most Virginians are that criminals must be put behind bars, it remains to be seen at just what cost.
``Factories behind fences'' would manufacture only products or components not made elsewhere in the United States, so they could never be accused of undercutting American business.
Virginia Correctional Enterprises merits expansion, for the benefit of taxpaying Virginians and of those who occupy its prisons and now have little hope of becoming productive, taxpaying citizens. Locking 'em up isn't itself enough. by CNB