Information on Army Regulation 210-35, the Civilian Inmate Labor Program.
Army Regulation 210-35: Civilian Inmate Labor Program
This regulation provides guidance for establishing and managing civilian inmate labor programs on Army installations. It also informs us what types of labor may be performed and where that labor takes place by the civilian inmates. That last part is a very important piece. The civilian inmates will only be allowed to work on military bases and Moral, Welfare, and Recreation facilities, or what they are more commonly called, MWR. MWR manages small retail stores that cater to our soldiers. They sell uniforms, cigarettes, snacks and then use those profits on projects to boast troop morale.
Army Regulation 210-35 does require the Army to comply with Section 2667, Title 10, United States Code (10 USC 2667). So what does 10 USC 2667 say? Does it have anything to do with health or safety? No. It basically about property laws. It defines what is and what is not military property. AR 210-35 also requires that the Civilian Inmate Program comply with Section 1065, Public Law (PL) 103-337. Is that document concerned with the health and safety of the civilian inmates? No. It just says that prison labor can be used at MWR locations that are off-post.
Throughout the document, the Army expresses great concern about revealing the Civilian Inmate Labor Program to the public. On the very first page they clearly state to keep prisoners only on military property. In section 4-2 the Army requires that should there be any media coverage involving the civilians in their labor program, it must be reported to 5 different departments, from Headquarters (HQ) to the Public Communications Division (SAPA-PCD). The report must include the media source, name of media source, date of coverage, a synopsis of the report, and whether the report had local, regional, or national coverage. This concerns me because it requires our military to monitor American journalist.