They Let Prisoners Make Army Helmets. Turns Out Thousands Were Defective

Most people would be surprised to learn that slave labor still exists in America. Because the thirteenth amendment only put an end to forced labor, “except as punishment for crime,” many prisoners in America can be forced to work for pennies an hour. What shouldn’t come as a surprise to anyone, is that oftentimes this kind of forced labor doesn’t produce a high quality product.

That certainly seemed to be the case when federal inmates were ordered to make ballistic helmets for the military. A Justice Department investigation has found that when Federal Prison Industries (a government owned corporation) was tasked with having prisoners make these helmets, they wound up producing thousands of defective items, which were delivered to the Army and Marine Corps.

The investigation discovered that the helmets “had numerous defects, including serious ballistic failures, blisters and improper mounting-hole placement and dimensions, as well as helmets being repressed,” and “helmets were manufactured with degraded or unauthorized ballistic materials, used expired paint (on LMCH), and unauthorized manufacturing methods. Helmets also had other defects such as deformities and the investigations found that rejected helmets were sold to the DoD.”

The investigation also found that Federal Prison Industries workers ordered the prisoners to alter documents, so that helmets which failed to pass inspection would be delivered. Despite that fact, federal prosecutors decided not to bring charges against anyone who was involved. All told, about 123,000 helmets were recalled when the defects were discovered by the military, which cost taxpayers $19 million.