GRAND RAPIDS, PRISONERS & WORK

Income tax deduction, what a hell of a function

It beats pickin' cotton and waitin' to be forgotten

The ones who love us best are the ones we'll lay to rest

And visit their graves on holidays at best

The ones who love us least are the ones we'll die to please

If it's any consolation, I don't begin to understand them.

                                   from The Replacements "Bastards of Young"

Not too long ago I drove through Grand Rapids, Michigan—“The City that Works”—or so the sign claimed, and as I pulled off the exit ramp an elderly couple held up a cardboard sign: “Will work for food.” I kept driving. I thought to myself: Doesn’t seem like Grand Rapids is working for them.

Not too long ago custody blew the siren—“lockdown” status, immobilization in progress. We went to the housing units armed with W9’s. We were instructed to collect the signatures (legal names, not commitment names) and social security numbers of employed prisoners in our facility. If someone refused to cooperate or provided the wrong information on the W9 we were told to inform the individual that the IRS would withhold 28% of their earnings. I sat in the dayroom instead and watched television. I thought to myself: Taxation without representation. I thought to myself: I'd rather go after the imprisoned foreign nationals, have them fill out W8's, but then I'd need their tax identification numbers so the IRS could withhold 30% of their earnings.