Prison Wages: A Violation of the Eighth Amendment

Blog Post | 113 KY. L. J. ONLINE | April 18, 2025

Prison Wages: A Violation of the Eighth Amendment

By: Hannah Carroll, Staff Editor, Vol. 113 

Twelve cents an hour. Seems a near laughable number of cents, but twelve cents an hour is a reality, and it is not from the distant past, it is from right now in the United States federal prison system.[1]

The Thirteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution eliminated slavery, but it left an exception to the rule for those convicted of a crime.[2] The question remains, even if near slavery is constitutional in prisons, does that make it right? The answer is a resounding no. The current system of federal prison labor, paying mere cents an hour combined with exorbitant prices for basic necessities, has resulted in a violation of the United States Constitution’s Eight Amendment’s Cruel and Unusual Punishment Clause.[3]

In the federal prison system, prisoners are required to work if able-bodied.[4] For most prisoners, they will work in the prison work program which entails different jobs such as food service, plumbing, and groundwork – things to keep the prison in shape.[5] For these types of jobs, prisoners are paid between $0.12 to $0.40 per hour.[6]  There is also another avenue in prisons for work which is called Federal Prison Industries or UNICOR. This program only admits roughly eight percent of prisoners, and it involves an application process with a long waitlist.[7] In UNICOR, prisoners can make a little more money at $0.23 to $1.15 per hour.[8]

Though the Federal Bureau of Prisons website does not note the daily number of hours a prisoner in the work program works, assuming a regular eight hour day, a prisoner makes $0.96 to $3.20 a day. The UNICOR website also does not list the number of hours a prisoner works in a day, so again assuming an eight-hour workday, UNICOR members make $1.84 to $9.20 per day. Most of the money made, at least for UNICOR, is required to be spent paying court costs and restitution.[9]

Even if the only problem was prisoners getting paid cents an hour, it would likely still be a violation of the Cruel and Unusual Punishment Clause; however, low wages are not the only problem. Prisoners must pay for commissary goods. From an outside perspective, commissary might seem like the place to buy luxuries such as good snacks and entertainment, but the reality is much starker.

Federal prisons give new prisoners soap, toothpaste, and a toothbrush when they arrive to prison,[10] but past these few items, prisoners must purchase other items from commissary once a week. Commissary prices are often too high for many prisoners who only have access to the few cents they make per hour in the prison. For example, a bar of soap can cost up to $2.80 which is roughly twenty-three hours of work at the lowest wage.[11] A two-in-one shampoo and conditioner costs between $2.75-$8.05.[12] Antiperspirant costs $1.70.[13] Tampons cost $5.55 each and a prisoner can only purchase two per week.[14] These prices, as well as other prices for food items and entertainment are often much higher than in stores outside of prisons. One study conducted found that the markup of commissary goods in prisons is up to 600% and prices are sometimes five times more than the same item sold outside the prison walls.[15] Inflation is a problem in all parts of the current United States economy, but for those in prison making twelve cents an hour, it is extraordinarily difficult to afford just the basics.

Prisoner’s low wages is a violation of the Eighth Amendment because the Supreme Court of the United States has held time and again that the Eighth Amendment “must draw its meaning from the evolving standards of decency.”[16] To clarify, the Court later held that human dignity is at the core of the amendment.[17]

In all change, there are those opposed to paying adequate wages to prisoners. Some argue against paying prisoners because the government is paying for housing and food so prisoners should not get to make money when being punished.[18] Others argue it is a matter of fairness to those who are making less money on the outside of prison who have never been in trouble with the law before.[19] Neither argument is convincing in light of soaring commissary prices. Forcing prisoners to labor and not paying enough to purchase the only necessities and items they have access to is a violation of contemporary standards of human decency and, therefore, the Eighth Amendment.

Now that it is established that the low wages and soaring prices constitute a violation of the Eighth Amendment, the work begins. There is no clear-cut path to correcting this problem, but there are possible solutions involving significantly lowering commissary prices or increasing wages paid to prisoners. Once a solution is found for the federal prison system, the goal is to spread the solution nationwide, because every state pays mere cents to a couple dollars for labor.[20] With a solution, Congress can bring the “…basic concept of human dignity…”[21] to the federal prison system that the Supreme Court and the Constitution of the United States require.

[1] Work Programs, Fed. Bureau of Prisons, https://www.bop.gov/inmates/custody_and_care/work_programs.jsp (last visited Apr. 6, 2025).

[2] U.S. Const. amend. XIII, § 1.

[3] U.S. Const. amend. VIII.

[4] Work Programs, supra note 1.

[5] Id.

[6] Id.

[7] UNICOR, Fed. Bureau of Prisons, https://www.bop.gov/inmates/custody_and_care/unicor_about.jsp (last visited Apt. 6, 2025).

[8] Id.

[9] Id.

[10] Christopher Zoukis, First Day in Prison: First Day in Federal Prison, Criminal Center, https://federalcriminaldefenseattorney.com/prison-life/first-day-in-prison/#h-do-prison-staff-issue-inmates-clothing-bedding-and-hygienic-items-on-their-first-day-in-federal-prison (Jan. 12, 2025, 5:14 PM).

[11] Fed. Bureau of Prisons FDC SEATAC Commissary Shopping List (2023), https://www.bop.gov/locations/institutions/set/set_commlist.pdf.

[12] Id.

[13] Id.

[14] Id.

[15] Locked In, Priced Out: How Prison Commissary Price-Gouging Preys on the Incarcerated, The Appeal (Apr. 17, 2024), https://theappeal.org/locked-in-priced-out-how-much-prison-commissary-prices/.

[16] Trop v. Dulles, 356 U.S. 86, 101 (1958).

[17] Gregg v. Georgia, 428 U.S. 153, 182 (1976).

[18] Tim Hrenchir, 5 Reasons Prisoners Should Not be Paid Minimum Wage, Newsmax, (Apr. 15, 2015, 11:01 AM), https://www.newsmax.com/FastFeatures/minimum-wage-reasons-prisoners/2015/04/15/id/638626/.

[19] Id.

[20] See State and Federal Prison Wage Policies and Sourcing Information, Prison Policy Initiative, https://www.prisonpolicy.org/reports/wage_policies.html (last visited Apr. 6, 2025).

[21] Gregg, 428 U.S. at 182.