Listen Top Shows Blog

Prison slavery makes millions for states like Maryland. What will it take to achieve change?

Prison slavery makes millions for states like Maryland. What will it take to achieve change?

Update: 2025-03-10

Share

Description

Across Maryland’s prison system, incarcerated workers assemble furniture, sew clothing, and even manufacture cleaning chemicals. In spite of making the state more than $50 million annually in revenue, these workers are compensated below the minimum wage in a system akin to slavery. But how does the system of forced prison labor really work, and how do state laws keep this industry running? Rattling the Bars investigates how Maryland law requires government institutions to purchase prison-made products, and how legislators like State Senator Antonio Hayes are working to change that.

Producer: Cameron Granadino

Help us continue producing Rattling the Bars by following us and becoming a monthly sustainer.

Sign up for our newsletter

Follow us on Bluesky
Like us on Facebook
Follow us on Twitter
Donate to support this podcast

Help us continue producing Rattling the Bars by following us and becoming a monthly sustainer.

Sign up for our newsletter

Follow us on Bluesky
Like us on Facebook
Follow us on Twitter
Donate to support this podcast

Comments

In Channel

Inside the modern-day plantation: How theater confronts incarceration

Inside the modern-day plantation: How theater confronts incarceration

2025-11-0847:23

Why more mega-prisons won’t fix Alabama’s crisis

Why more mega-prisons won’t fix Alabama’s crisis

2025-11-0534:02

Nebraska inmate punished for speaking on wife’s podcast

Nebraska inmate punished for speaking on wife’s podcast

2025-10-2031:59

Their kids were all killed by police. Now, they’re leading a movement

Their kids were all killed by police. Now, they’re leading a movement

2025-10-2009:04

How ICE creates the chaos ICE, cops, and the military are called in to ‘fix’

How ICE creates the chaos ICE, cops, and the military are called in to ‘fix’

2025-10-1346:27

‘A soul-sucking, desolate hell’: How I survived America’s most secretive supermax prison

‘A soul-sucking, desolate hell’: How I survived America’s most secretive supermax prison

2025-10-1038:05

Trump’s loophole for mass-jailing immigrants: The US Marshals

Trump’s loophole for mass-jailing immigrants: The US Marshals

2025-09-3017:27

CA to close infamous Norco prison—this abolitionist coalition wants to shut down more facilities

CA to close infamous Norco prison—this abolitionist coalition wants to shut down more facilities

2025-09-2225:32

Trump’s incarceration nation: ‘Alligator Alcatraz’ is just the beginning

Trump’s incarceration nation: ‘Alligator Alcatraz’ is just the beginning

2025-09-1623:38

Voices from the ‘We are all DC’ march

Voices from the ‘We are all DC’ march

2025-09-1631:14

‘We are all D.C.’: Massive protests rock US capital in defiance of Trump

‘We are all D.C.’: Massive protests rock US capital in defiance of Trump

2025-09-0905:30

‘I believe in our people’s ability to find the light’: Celebrating Black August in dark times

‘I believe in our people’s ability to find the light’: Celebrating Black August in dark times

2025-09-0912:11

Kim Kelly: "Incarcerated workers are part of the labor movement"

Kim Kelly: "Incarcerated workers are part of the labor movement"

2025-09-0329:55

How the ‘war on drugs’ set the stage for Trump’s authoritarianism today

How the ‘war on drugs’ set the stage for Trump’s authoritarianism today

2025-07-1126:54

Trans inmates face rape & death with Trump’s Executive Order

Trans inmates face rape & death with Trump’s Executive Order

2025-06-1222:03

Inside the big business of prison farms and ‘agricarceral’ slave labor

Inside the big business of prison farms and ‘agricarceral’ slave labor

2025-05-1930:13

Former Black Panther Mansa Musa on how to fight Trump: 'Get organized!'

Former Black Panther Mansa Musa on how to fight Trump: 'Get organized!'

2025-04-0701:07:48

Maryland's Second Look Act clears State House—is relief for longterm prisoners imminent?

Maryland's Second Look Act clears State House—is relief for longterm prisoners imminent?

2025-03-2433:15

Prison profiteering exploits whole communities, not just the incarcerated

Prison profiteering exploits whole communities, not just the incarcerated

2025-03-1035:27

Prison slavery makes millions for states like Maryland. What will it take to achieve change?

Prison slavery makes millions for states like Maryland. What will it take to achieve change?

2025-03-1027:32

00:00

00:00

x

Prison slavery makes millions for states like Maryland. What will it take to achieve change?

Prison slavery makes millions for states like Maryland. What will it take to achieve change?

The Real News Network (TRNN)