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People in prison work all kinds of jobs. They’re dishwashers, custodians, kitchen workers and landscapers. Wages for these inmates are extremely low. The average minimum pay is $0.13 an hour, according to an ACLU report. But in Maine, dozens of prisoners are working remote jobs, everything from research and grant writing to software development. One man serving time is earning six figures. Susan Sharon of Maine Public Radio reports.
SUSAN SHARON, BYLINE: Preston Thorpe recently landed what he calls his dream job as a senior software engineer. He’s 32. He makes more than $100,000 and has been able to buy a modest house. He says he accomplished it all from his cell at the Mountain View Correctional center in Charleston, Maine.
PRESTON THORPE: Fortunately, tech is one of the few areas where they’re not concerned with your college degree. They’re really only concerned with your ability to write code.
SHARON: Thorpe describes himself as a computer geek. He built his first computer at age 13. He always expected he’d have a career in tech, but he also had a rebellious side. In high school, he got into trouble with drugs, using them and selling them. He says his parents kicked him out of the house, and he ended up in prison for the first time at age 20.
THORPE: You know, I was worried and pretty hopeless that I had messed my life up so bad that it was no longer possible to have, like, a normal life, a normal career.
SHARON: Maine Corrections Commissioner Randall Liberty says remote work is an outgrowth of online education. Eight hundred prisoners are using laptops, mostly for school, and more than 40 have been hired by outside companies for full- and part-time jobs. Salaries vary, but several workers make upwards of $60,000 a year. Liberty says their internet access is limited and monitored.
RANDALL LIBERTY: We have technicians that are watching where they’re going and what they’re doing, and we’ve had very few problems.
SHARON: For Thorpe, getting a laptop in his hands was a lifeline, and about two years ago, he got hired for his first remote job. Commissioner Liberty is optimistic that remote work can be expanded in Maine and to prisons in other states.
LIBERTY: If it provides meaningful employment for them, it’s really important that we allow that access, and it also allows for a smooth transition back into the community.
MARA SANCHEZ: What I can tell you is that Maine is really a leader in this area.
SHARON: Mara Sanchez is the program director at the Alliance for Higher Education in Prison.
SANCHEZ: Their implementation, willingness to try remote work for incarcerated students has really kind of set the bar for other states and been very inspiring to other states.
SHARON: Sanchez says more than half a dozen other states have taken steps to allow prisoners to do remote work. In Maine, the state garnishes wages for child support, victim restitution and other fees. And for those who earn above a certain amount, 10% goes to room and board. But they can also save money or send it home. Preston Thorpe expects to be released sometime next year.
THORPE: Now, I feel like my life has a purpose.
SHARON: Thorpe never expected that he’d have bought a house or found a career that he loves in prison. But he says what he’s most proud of is that after everything he’s put his parents through, they are proud of him.
For NPR News, I’m Susan Sharon.
(SOUNDBITE OF BARRACUDA SOUND’S “MIRAFLORES”) Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
