Which system involves prisoners working directly for private businesses?

The contract system is characterized by arrangements where private businesses hire prison labor to produce goods or services. In this system, the state contracts out the work to private companies, which then assumes the responsibility for the work performed by the inmates. This can include manufacturing products, providing services, or even agriculture-related tasks. The essential feature of the contract system is that inmates are directly contributing to private industry, thus generating profit for those businesses while receiving minimal compensation themselves, often in the form of reduced sentences or small wages.

Other systems, such as the public-account system and the lease system, do not involve direct employment by private businesses in the same manner. The public-account system operates under a model where the state manages the work done by inmates, keeping the profits within the public sector. The lease system, on the other hand, allows private companies to lease inmates from the government to use as laborers, but the prisoners still technically remain under the jurisdiction of the correctional facility rather than being employed directly by a business. The state-use system refers to a framework where prison labor is used for state projects or institutions, again not involving private business directly. This understanding helps clarify why the contract system is the straightforward answer when considering the utilization of prisoner labor for profit within the