>The work is mandatory,

It isn't. It's just often preferable to sitting in a cell 23 hours per day.

>The "wages" are typically something like 25 cents per hour,

Why should a felon be permitted to earn whatever it is that you think they should be paid (the wages of a free man)? They are being punished. One of the aspects of the punishment is that they can't go out and get a good-paying job.

> and sentences can be extended if you refuse to work

This is a blatant lie. Sentences can't be extended without additional convictions. While it's not impossible to be charged with crimes committed in prison (murders occur there often enough), no one's being convicted of "refusing to work in prison".

I know that this blew up a few years on reddit, but maybe you should learn about it from more reputable sources.

> Sentences can't be extended without additional convictions.

This is technically true but substantively false. Fixed duration sentences in most US jurisdictions (life sentences are different) are come with essentially automatic substantial reductions for good behavior which are removable for poor behavior with minimal process, avoiding the hassle of judicial process for offenses in prison, and frequently “refusing work” is a cause for removing those reductions.

So, technically, its not an “increased sentence” for refusing work. But, in practice, that’s exactly how it functions.

I know it's hard to believe but I am not lying. Work is mandatory and refusal is punishable with harsher conditions and/or longer imprisonment. Here are a few examples.

Alabama: Refusing to work is a "medium-level violation", which can be punished by forfeiting good time, which extends their sentence. See https://governor.alabama.gov/assets/2023/01/EO-725-Good-Time..., https://www.al.com/news/2025/12/alabama-prison-inmates-lose-...

Louisiana: Inmates are often sent to solitary confinement (among other punishments) if they refuse to work. https://apnews.com/article/prisons-labor-lawsuit-investigati...

Tennessee: "Any prisoner who refuses to participate in such programs when work is available shall have any sentence reduction credits received pursuant to the provisions of T.C.A. § 41-2-123 or T.C.A. § 41-2-146 reduced by two days of credit for each one day of refusal to work. [...] Pursuant to T.C.A. § 41-2-120(a), any prisoner refusing to work or becoming disorderly may be confined in solitary confinement or subjected to such other punishment, not inconsistent with humanity, as may be deemed necessary by the sheriff for the control of the prisoners, including reducing sentence credits pursuant to the procedure established in T.C.A. § 41-2-111. Such prisoners refusing to work, or while in solitary confinement, shall receive no credit for the time so spent. T.C.A. § 41-2-120(b)." This whole page is a particularly horrific read. https://www.ctas.tennessee.edu/eli/punishment-refusing-work

> Why should a felon be permitted to earn whatever it is that you think they should be paid (the wages of a free man)?

Yes, anyone working should be paid at least minimum wage. If we don't think they should earn that much then we simply shouldn't allow them to work. It should not be legal to force anyone to work (I know this will require a constitutional amendment to enforce).

The reason, beyond the obvious that slavery is immoral, is that allowing forced labor for close to zero pay incentivizes incarcerating more people for longer sentences to increase the size of this nearly free labor pool.