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| Pa. county wrestles over labor by prison inmates |
| By Associated Press |
| Published: 02/09/2004 |
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Over the years, Lackawanna County in northeastern Pennsylvania has turned to a reliable source for cheap labor: the county prison. On average, about 50 inmates are furloughed daily to work, largely unpaid, at facilities including the county's recycling center, its museum-operated trolley line and a minor-league ballpark. But the use of prison labor has come under closer scrutiny in recent months. The Lackawanna County Prison warden was fired in July after acknowledging publicly that he had used prisoners to move furniture and a wooden platform to his home. The prison's chaplain said inmates helped build him a one-room dwelling on property owned by the Roman Catholic Diocese of Scranton. Other prison staff have been accused by inmates and colleagues of having prisoners repair their cars. Then, in January, a county commissioner abruptly yanked a pool of prison laborers from the Lackawanna County Stadium, home of the Philadelphia Phillies top farm club, the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre Red Barons. Commissioner Robert C. Cordaro said he would prefer that the inmates, who provide about $1.2 million worth of labor per year for the county, work at facilities that are county-owned. The stadium is owned by an independent authority. Cordaro shifted the prisoners to jobs at the county-owned Montage Ski Resort and at a county courthouse. Pennsylvania Prison Society Executive Director William M. DiMascio said Lackawanna's sudden confusion over the proper use of inmates may partly be blamed on a lack of guidance from the state. Pennsylvania law generally allows the counties to set their own policies, including rules on where and when prisoners may work. The Pennsylvania's Department of Corrections declined to take action against the officials accused of using inmates for personal chores, despite requests from some county officials that it get involved. Lackawanna County officials almost unanimously agree that having prisoners perform work that primarily benefits individuals is improper, but there has been less consensus on other types of tasks. Almost every Pennsylvania county uses some prison labor, though the type of services inmates performs varies widely said Brinda Penyak, director of government relations for the Pennsylvania County Commissioners Association. |
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