Every April, Americans file their taxes with the understanding that they’re contributing to services and infrastructure we all rely on. But there’s anotherpopulation contributing through labor—often without fair pay, protections, or recognition: incarcerated people.
In prisons across the United States, people are required to work under conditions that many would say violate fundamental human rights. They make license plates, clean public buildings, fight wildfires, and manufacture goods—generating an estimated $2 billion each year in goods and services in state prison industries programs. Yet their earnings, rights, and autonomy are stripped away.
Where Does Their Paycheck Go?
Despite earning wages as low as five to 54 cents an hour (in Oklahoma specifically), incarcerated workers can see up to 80% of those wages withheld. That money is often taken to cover things such as taxes, “room and board” charges for their incarceration, court fines and restitution, and even mandatory contributions to prison funds.
It’s taxation without representation, and for many, it's labor without choice. According to the joint UChicago and ACLU report, 76% of incarcerated workers say they face punishment if they refuse to work, including solitary confinement or loss of visitation rights. First hand accounts in Oklahoma, tell us incarcerated people must accept their work assignment or they are dropped to a Level 2 for 90 days where their time earned is reduced as well as privileges such as less visitation and phone time. This forced labor is still legal because of the 13th Amendment loophole that permits slavery and involuntary servitude “as punishment for a crime.” In seven states, incarcerated people are not paid at all for their labor.
In 2018, Colorado passed a constitutional amendment removing the “except” clause from its state constitution, thereby officially banning slavery and involuntary servitude in all forms. The amendment has since been interpreted to prohibit prisons from punishing incarcerated individuals—such as through solitary confinement—for refusing to work. Alabama adopted a similar amendment in 2022.
This system exposes the deep contradictions at the heart of prison labor—where work is demanded but rights are denied, and punishment is tied not to justice but to compliance. As some states begin to confront this legacy by abolishing involuntary servitude outright, the need for broader reform becomes even clearer: No one should be forced to work under threat of punishment, especially in a system that offers so little in return.
Taxpayer-Funded, Rights-Denied
Even though their labor helps fund state functions and government operations, incarcerated workers are excluded from Social Security contributions, ineligible for the Earned Income Tax Credit, and disqualified from collecting unemployment benefits after release. Incarcerated workers help keep parts of our economy running, yet they are excluded from nearly every labor protection and benefit most working Americans take for granted. In essence, they pay into a system that gives them very little in return—before, during, or after incarceration.
Meanwhile, the economic harm of incarceration ripples outward. Research shows that formerly incarcerated people experience unemployment rates nearly five times higher than the general population after release. In Oklahoma, where incarceration rates remain among the highest in the nation, returning citizens often face crushing financial burdens from unpaid court fines and fees, lack of access to affordable housing, and limited job opportunities. The communities most impacted by incarceration still lack access to substance use treatment, employment services, and housing assistance, three key factors in reducing recidivism. Without real reinvestment, especially in areas hardest hit by mass incarceration, the cycle of poverty and unpaid prison labor simply continues.
Another issue after reintegration is that some courts have attempted to collect fines and fees through tax intercepts. A recent study in Oklahoma County found that after just 12 months, 80% of those who owed criminal fines and fees had a tax intercept issued by the court. The same study explains that this process lacks transparency and often involves automatically deducting outstanding payments from individuals’ state tax returns—frequently without notice or clear recourse. It's yet another example of how people are penalized long after their sentence has ended.
This Tax Day, Remember This
Tax Day is more than a deadline—it’s an opportunity to reflect on what fairness looks like in our economy and our justice system.
If we truly believe in the dignity of work, then we must also believe in:
- Fair pay
- Voluntary labor
- Meaningful reentry opportunities
- An end to financial punishment through incarceration and fines and fees
In Oklahoma and across the country, criminal justice reform must include a reckoning with prison labor practices. Because second chances shouldn’t start with debt and dehumanization.
