Highway Signs and Prison Labor

Incarcerated people grow crops, fight wildfires, and manufacture everything from prescription glasses to highway signs — often for pennies an hour. Zachary Crockett takes the next exit, in this special episode of The Economics of Everyday Things . SOURCES: Laura Appleman , professor of law at Willamette University. Christopher Barnes, inmate at the Franklin Correctional Center. Lee Blackman , general manager at Correction Enterprises. Gene Hawkins , senior principal engineer at Kittelson and professor emeritus of civil engineering at Texas A&M University. Renee Roach, state signing and delineation engineer for the North Carolina Department of Transportation. Brian Scott, ex-inmate, former worker at the Correction Enterprises printing plant. Louis Southall , warden of Franklin Correctional Center. RESOURCES: “ Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices for Streets and Highways, 11th Edition ,” by the U.S. Department of Transportation Federal Highway Administration (2023). “ Prisoners in the U.S. Are Part of a Hidden Workforce Linked to Hundreds of Popular Food Brands ,” by Robin McDowell and Margie Mason ( AP News, 2024). “ Ex-Prisoners Face Headwinds as Job Seekers, Even as Openings…