Which system involved taking prisoners outside of prison to work under armed guards?

Which system involved taking prisoners outside of prison to work under armed guards?

• A. Public-account system
• B. State-use system
• C. Hawes-Cooper Act
• D. Lease system

Answer: (D)

This item is about how prisoner labor was organized in history, specifically how work was done off the prison grounds. The method that involved taking prisoners outside the prison to work under armed guards is the lease system. In this arrangement, inmates were leased to private individuals or companies and sent to work away from the prison. The state received payment for the prisoners, and the contractor was responsible for their subsistence and supervision, with armed guards ensuring that security and order were maintained. This off-site, under-guard labor arrangement stood in contrast to on-site production for government use in the other systems, where work is done inside prison walls or for government purposes without leasing inmates to private workers. The Hawes-Cooper Act is a federal law about prison-made goods, not a labor arrangement, so it doesn’t describe a system of off-site work.

This item is about how prisoner labor was organized in history, specifically how work was done off the prison grounds. The method that involved taking prisoners outside the prison to work under armed guards is the lease system. In this arrangement, inmates were leased to private individuals or companies and sent to work away from the prison. The state received payment for the prisoners, and the contractor was responsible for their subsistence and supervision, with armed guards ensuring that security and order were maintained. This off-site, under-guard labor arrangement stood in contrast to on-site production for government use in the other systems, where work is done inside prison walls or for government purposes without leasing inmates to private workers. The Hawes-Cooper Act is a federal law about prison-made goods, not a labor arrangement, so it doesn’t describe a system of off-site work.