Chapter 4
Programming, Work, Reentry
Chapter Overview
One idea about imprisonment is that it is an occasion for individual self-improvement—for education, vocational training, rehabilitation. But do prisoners have a legal right to education and rehabilitative services? This chapter presents legal and policy issues related to prison labor, educational programs, and reentry services.
Featured Opinions
- Laaman v. Helgemoe, 437 F.Supp. 269 (D. N.H. 1977)
- Vanskike v. Peters, 974 F.2d 806 (7th Cir. 1992)
Featured, Cited, and Supplemental Litigation Documents
- Novoa v. The GEO Group, No. 17–cv–02514 (C.D. Cal.)
- Litigation summary and documents
- Third Amended Complaint (Aug. 16, 2019)
Statutes, Treaties, and Regulations
- Ashurst-Sumners Act, 18 U.S.C. §§ 1761-1762
- Fair Labor Standards Act, 29 U.S.C. §§ 201 et seq.
- Federal Trafficking Victims Protection Act, 18 U.S.C. §§ 1589(a), 1594(a)
- La. Admin Code tit. 22, § 331
- Pell Grants
- U.N. Standard Minimum Rules for the Treatment of Prisoners (The Nelson Mandela Rules), G.A. Res. 70/175 (Dec. 17, 2015)
Excerpted Sources & Supplemental Documents
- ABA Criminal Justice Standards (3d ed.), Treatment of Prisoners, Standard 23-8.9: Transition to the community (2011)
- Gabriel J. Chin, The New Civil Death: Rethinking Punishment in the Era of Mass Conviction, 160 U. Pa. L. Rev. 1789 (2012)
- Neveen Hammad, Shackled to Economic Appeal: How Prison Labor Facilitates Modern Slavery While Perpetuating Poverty in Black Communities, 26 Va. J. Soc. Pol’y & L. 65 (2019)
- Michigan Department of Corrections: Prisoner Programming; Educational Programming (Jul. 2025)
- Judith Resnik, Impermissible Punishments: How Prison Became a Problem for Democracy (2025)
- Brandon V. Wyatt, Reflection on Prison Education (2025)
- Noah Zatz, Working at the Boundaries of Markets: Prison Labor and the Economic Dimension of Employment Relationships, 61 Vand. L. Rev. 857 (2008)
Lived Experiences
Additional Reading
- Ryanne Bamieh, Note, The New Abolition: The Legal Consequences of Ending All Slavery and Involuntary Servitude, 50 Harv. C.R.-C.L. L. Rev. 245 (2024)
- Sachini N. Bandara et al., Leveraging the Affordable Care Act to Enroll Justice-Involved Populations in Medicaid, 34 Health Aff. 2044 (2015)
- Ingrid A. Binswanger et al., Release from Prison—A High Risk of Death for Former Inmates, 356 New Eng. J. Med. 157 (2007)
- Robert Bozick et al., Does Providing Inmates with Education Improve Postrelease Outcomes? A Meta-Analysis of Correctional Education Programs in the United States, 14 J. Exp. Crim. 329 (2018)
- Jennifer Bronson et al., U.S. Dep’t of Justice, Drug Use, Dependence, and Abuse Among State Prisoners and Jail Inmates, 2007-2009 (Jun. 2017)
- Jennifer Bronson & Marcus Berzofsky, Dep’t of Justice, Indicators of Mental Health Problems Reported by Prisoners and Jail Inmates, 2011-12 (Jun. 2017)
- Captive Labor: Exploitation of Incarcerated Workers, ACLU (Jun. 2022)
- Collateral Consequences Research Center, Legislative Update (last accessed Aug. 2, 2025)
- Roxanne Daniel & Wendy Sawyer, What you should know about halfway houses, Prison Policy Initiative (Sept. 2020)
- Adam A. Davidson, No Exceptions: The New Movement to Abolish Slavery and Involuntary Servitude, U. Chi. L. Rev. (2025)
- Nazish Dholakia, After 30 Years, The First Program to Offer Pell Grants to Incarcerated Students Has Launched, Vera (Mar. 2024)
- FAMILIES USA, Medicaid Eligibility for People Leaving Incarceration is Smart Policy (Jul. 12, 2016)
- Federal Student Aid, Approved Prison Education Programs
- Inside-Out Prison Exchange Program
- Kaiser Family Foundation, Status of State Medicaid Expansion Decisions: Interactive Map (Aug. 2, 2025)
- Jackson Taylor Kirklin, Title VII Protections for Inmates: A Model Approach for Safeguarding Civil Rights in America’s Prisons, 111 Colum. L. Rev. 1048 (2011)
- Marcus Lane & Sam McCann, People Need Transportation Access After Release from Jail and Prison, Vera (Oct. 5, 2023)
- Alex Lichtenstein, Twice the Work of Free Labor: The Political Economy of Convict Labor in the New South (1996)
- Adam Looney & Nicholas Turner, Brookings Institute, Work and Opportunity Before and After Incarceration (Mar. 2018)
- Jessica Mack & Gloria Choi, From Harassment to Retaliation: The Shocking Injustice in Federal Prison Reentry, Remedy Project (Mar. 7, 2024)
- Marshall Project, Prison Money Diaries: What People Really Make (and Spend) Behind Bars (Aug. 2022)
- Sam McCann, How “Collateral Consequences” Keep People Trapped in the Legal System, Vera (Nov. 2023)
- Ryan Moser, Slavery and the Modern-Day Prison Plantation, JSTOR (Nov. 2023)
- Nat’l Ass’n of Ctys., Health Coverage and County Jails Suspension vs. Termination (Dec. 2014)
- Nat’l Inventory of Collateral Consequences of Convictions (last accessed Aug. 2, 2025)
- N.Y. Temporary State Commission on Management and Productivity in the Public Sector, The Restitution Center Concept as a Part of the Criminal Justice System (Jun. 1977)
- Patrick Oakford et al., Vera Institute of Justice, Investing in Futures: Economic and Fiscal Benefits of Postsecondary Education in Prison (2019)
- Devah Pager, The Mark of a Criminal Record, 108 Am. J. Soc. 937 (2003)
- Michael L. Smith, State Constitutional Prohibitions of Slavery and Involuntary Servitude, 99 Wash. L. Rev. 523 (2024)
- Jordan Carlee Smith, Inmate Populations in a Disaster: A Labor Force, a Vulnerable Population and a Hazard, LSU Master’s Thesis (2016)
- Shaun Traywick, Alabama Voters Banned Prison Slavery — But Prisoners Say It Hasn’t Stopped, truthout (Jun. 2025)
- Anna Wolfe & Michelle Liu, Working Towards Freedom, Mississippi Today (Jan. 9, 2020)
- Gary Zajac et al., An Examination of Rural Prisoner Reentry Challenges, Pennsylvania State University (2013)