WVXU: Incarcerated workers should be taxed
UC Law professor discusses labor, taxation and benefits for incarcerated workers
How should incarcerated workers be compensated and should their wages be taxed are two questions UC Law professor Stephanie McMahon tackled during a recent segment of Cincinnati Edition on WVXU.
McMahon says there is plenty of debate about whether the 13th amendment which prohibits slavery should allow prison inmates to be forced to work. The language says they can be required to work but it is often in contradiction to what some people expect and some state constitutions. Of the 1.2 million people incarcerated in the U.S. two out of three are workers, reports the American Civil Liberties Union.
A 2022 ACLU study also found that incarcerated workers get between 13 cents and 52 cents per hour for their labor and that the government still takes up to 80% of their wages for room, board, legal costs and other expenses. McMahon argues that incarcerated workers should be fairly compensated and then taxed so they can earn access to the nation’s social safety net, which includes social security, the earned income tax credit and other benefits. She explores this topic in her article Prison Work is Taxing and Should be Taxed.
McMahon is joined by Jennifer Turner, principal human rights researcher at the ACLU, and LaToya Bell, deputy director of the Ohio Justice & Policy Center.
Listen to the WVXU broadcast online.
Learn more about the work of Dr. Stephanie McMahon online.
Featured image courtesy of Unsplash.
Related Stories
Sugar overload killing hearts
November 10, 2025
Two in five people will be told they have diabetes during their lifetime. And people who have diabetes are twice as likely to develop heart disease. One of the deadliest dangers? Diabetic cardiomyopathy. But groundbreaking University of Cincinnati research hopes to stop and even reverse the damage before it’s too late.
Is going nuclear the solution to Ohio’s energy costs?
November 10, 2025
The Ohio Capital Journal recently reported that as energy prices continue to climb, economists are weighing the benefits of going nuclear to curb costs. The publication dove into a Scioto Analysis survey of 18 economists to weigh the pros and cons of nuclear energy. One economist featured was Iryna Topolyan, PhD, professor of economics at the Carl H. Lindner College of Business.
App turns smartwatch into detector of structural heart disease
November 10, 2025
An app that uses an AI model to read a single-lead ECG from a smartwatch can detect structural heart disease, researchers reported at the 2025 Scientific Sessions of the American Heart Association. Although the technology requires further validation, researchers said it could help improve the identification of patients with heart failure, valvular conditions and left ventricular hypertrophy before they become symptomatic, which could improve the prognosis for people with these conditions.