From: firstinitiallastname@texas.net   
      
   HooDoo U. Doo wrote:   
   > In article , firstinitiallastname@texas.net   
   > says...   
   >   
   >   
   >>A great deal of the Ranger (and other non-uniformed officer) gunleather,   
   >>belts and buckles comes from inmate craftsmen in the Texas prisons.   
   >   
   >   
   > Beats stamping out license plates, for sure.   
   >   
   > So how do they profit from this legally? I'm   
   > not sure I agree with inmates being permitted   
   > to profit from their imprisonment. If the   
   > funds generated by their industry go into a   
   > pool for the benefit of all, perhaps I could   
   > go along with it. Cash in the hands of inmates   
   > usually equates to buying favors, drugs, etc.   
      
   They're not really profiting from imprisonment. Their prices are very   
   modest, a small fraction of what the work would fetch on the outside.   
   And there is always work to do gratis for the system. They have no cash   
   on hand. All they have is in an inmate fund, with specific limitations   
   on how it can be spent. I'd far rather see them working at a craft to   
   which they apply considerable talent and one day get out with enough   
   money to get a start, rather than a $200 check, a crappy suit and a bus   
   ticket back to whence they came. It's desperately difficult for an   
   discharging inmate without some support. I don't know the numbers (and   
   they're a small group anyway) of these guys who do well with their   
   talent and skill when they get out, but they've got a decent chance in a   
   field that attracts almost no young craftsmen apprentices. And they've   
   got a stunning list of references to testify to the quality of their work.   
      
   (And they don't stamp license plates, anymore. That's contracted to   
   private industry.)   
   --   
                          Gerald Clough   
       "Nothing has any value, unless you know you can give it up."   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)