An Introduction to Prison Industry:

General Articles

• Prison Labor: Reform or Abolish (Georgetown University)
• Rethinking prison labor under the 13th Amendment (UChicago News)
• Time to Reckon with Prison Labor (Yale Institute for Social and Policy Studies)
• America’s Dystopian Incarceration System of Pay to Stay Behind Bars (Brennan Center for Justice)
• Working Prisoners in the USA: Laws, Policies, and Practical Realities (Institute for Crime and Justice Policy Research)
• Who Pays: The True Cost of Incarceration on Families. (Ella Baker Center for Human Rights)
• Economic Impact of Prison Labor for Incarcerated Individuals and Taxpayers. (Princeton Legal Journal)
• Mass Incarceration: The Whole Pie (Prison Policy Initiative)

History

• Dissertation on the Establishment of State Run Prison Labor Program
• US Department of Justice, Bureau of Justice Statistics report on Prisoners from 1925-81
• US Department of Justice, Bureau of Justice Statistics: Historical Statistics on Prisoners in State and Federal Institutions Year end 1925-86
• Vera: American History, Race, and Prison
• Capital News Service 1999 article: Maryland Prison Population Exploded in the 20th Century
• Jail and Prison Insider: Short YouTube video on the history of Maryland Correctional Enterprises
• Organizing the Prisons in the 1960s and 70s (Organization of American Historians)
• 50 Years Later: The Evolution of Prison Policy (JSTOR Daily)

Pertinent Federal Laws and Policies

• History of Corrections in America timeline (National Institute of Corrections)
• Hawes-Cooper Act of 1929
• Ashurst-Sumners Act — 1936 law making it illegal to transport goods made with prison labor across state lines (with some exceptions).
• The Walsh-Healey Public Contracts Act — Sets standards for government procurement. ** Needs Research
• President Johnson Crime Commission Report 1967
• NPR article on the Crime Commission Report of 1967
• Justice System Improvement Act of 1979 Establishment of Prison Industry Enhancement Certification Program (PIECP)
• Prison Litigation Reform Act of 1995 (making it harder for inmates to bring federal lawsuits)
• Second Chance Act of 2007 creating programs to improve reentry and reduce recidivism
• State Constitutional Prohibitions of Slavery and Involuntary Servitude (Washington Law Review)

Maryland Correctional Enterprises

• Maryland Correctional Enterprises website
• MCE Annual Report 2024
• MCE Independent audit, 2022-2023
• MCE Independent Audit, 2024
• Comptroller of Maryland Outlining Preferred Providers
• Department of Public Safety and Correctional Services 2026FY Operating Budget Analysis
• Number of people in prison in 2020 from each Baltimore City Community Statistical Area (Prison Policy Initiative)

MD Legal/Legislative Info

• Title 21 State Procurement Regulations (2018). Pg. 17
• Maryland COMAR (code of maryland regulations): MCE search
• MD Diminution Credit System (time off sentence for work)
• Department of Public Safety and Correctional Services Fiscal 2025 Budget Overview
• 2025 HB0350 Budget Bill Pg. 163 — Funding for MCE
• 2024 HB1151 and SB0420 — Failed bill attempting to repeal preferred provider status for MCE
• 2023 HB1123 — Failed bill attempting to mandate minimum wage for inmates as well as additional services.
• 2023 HB 1057 — Failed bill attempting to mandate a $5 per hour minimum wage for inmates
• 2021 SB 0194 — Failed bill attempting to mandate minimum wage, and repeal requirements for inmates to reimburse state from earnings.
• 2021 HB 0102 — House bill from 2021 seeking minimum wage
• ACLU Lawsuit successfully granting minimum wage to inmates working outside prison walls

Federal Prison Industry Enhancement Certification Program (PIECP)

This program exempts certain certified prison work programs from normal restrictions imposed by the Ashurst-Sumners Act (restrictions on interstate sale of goods made with prison labor).

• Department of Justice, Bureau of Justice Programs website on PIECP
• Maryland/MCE Website on PIECP
• National Correctional Industries Association website on PIECP
• The Prison Industries Enhancement Certification Program: Why Everyone Should be Concerned | Prison Legal News. (n.d.).

Reentry, Reintegration, and Recidivism

• Reintegration and Recidivism: Echoes from the 1970s (Correctional Reform Working Group)
• Cook, P. J., Kang, S., Braga, A. A., Ludwig, J., & O’Brien, M. E. (2015). An Experimental Evaluation of a Comprehensive Employment-Oriented Prisoner Re-entry Program. Journal of Quantitative Criminology, 31(3), 355–382. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10940-014-9242-5
• Smith, C. J., Bechtel, J., Patrick, A., Smith, R. R., & Wilson-Gentry, L. (n.d.). Correctional Industries Preparing Inmates for Re-entry: Recidivism & Post-release Employment.

Potential Advocacy Allies

• Towson University 2017 Protests
• University of Maryland 2024 Efforts
• Out For Justice
• We.Our.Us
• The Flowers Whiting Initiative
• ACLU of MD: Rights of People in Prisons
• Public Justice Center
• Leaders of a Beautiful Struggle
• SURJ Baltimore
• The Sentencing Project
• Baltimore Racial Justice Action
• Facing All Changes Everyday