It raises the question how this could even be legal. After all, as problematic and woefully inadequate as they are, even private prisons are contracted by the government and have corrections officers. However, in a country in which literally everything is a commodity through which profit can be made, it’s not a shock that this is happening. The criminal justice system is literally allowing human lives to be turned over to companies for their own benefit.

Chicken processing plants are notoriously dangerous and understaffed. The hours are long, the pay is low and the conditions are brutal. Men in the CAAIR program said their hands became gnarled after days spent hanging thousands of chickens from metal shackles. One man said he was burned with acid while hosing down a trailer. Others were maimed by machines or contracted serious bacterial infections. Those who were hurt and could no longer work often were kicked out of CAAIR and sent to prison, court records show. Most men worked through the pain, fearing the same fate.

Though this seems to be a gross violation of an offender’s rights, it’s not completely prohibited by law. While the Constitution prohibits slavery and involuntary servitude, it allows it as punishment for those who are convicted of crimes. What’s worse is that CAAIR and programs like it are often not regulated. CAAIR only has one trained drug counselor, even though state law requires drug offenders to be sent to treatment programs with trained and certified counselors. Still, with no state oversight, those in charge of drug courts are able to send people there at their discretion—despite the horrific conditions and forced religion that takes place there.

Sharon Cain runs the drug court in rural Stephens County and decides where to send defendants for treatment. She said state regulators don’t stop her from using CAAIR. “I do what I wanna do. They don’t mess with me,” she said. “And I’m not saying that in a cocky way. They just know I’m going to do drug court the way I’ve always done it.” ... About 280 men are sent to CAAIR each year by courts throughout Oklahoma, as well as Arkansas, Texas and Missouri. Instead of paychecks, the men get bunk beds, meals and Alcoholics and Narcotics Anonymous meetings. If there’s time between work shifts, they can meet with a counselor or attend classes on anger management and parenting. Weekly Bible study is mandatory. For the first four months, so is church. Most days revolve around the work.

Let’s call this what it is: a shameful way to exploit vulnerable people in order for companies to make money. The CEO and her husband of CAAIR make combined salaries of $168,000 a year. This is repugnant. Our criminal justice system should never allow this to happen. It’s time to finally do something once and for all to reform this dreadful system so it doesn’t put any more people’s lives in jeopardy and make private companies very rich in the process.