Sly Stallone’s not running this crew yet.
Some people may question whether prison can truly be a place for rehabilitation. Michael Levi Fuller doesn’t.
Inmate #46565 here at the Southern Desert Correctional Center, Mr. Fuller has watched some hard cases come into his institution for years, then leave practically reborn.
The cases in question are cars—very cool vintage cars. They come in rough and battered, and inmates restore them to their original glory. It may be the penal system’s most unusual workshop.
“We’ve got a '56 Jaguar, a '48 Rolls Royce and a Studebaker pickup,” says Mr. Fuller in a phone interview. The 51-year-old Mr. Fuller joins 32 fellow medium-security inmates at the prison’s auto shop every weekday.
It’s quite an operation and perhaps the most creative use of captive labor in a multibillion dollar business-behind-bars archipelago that stretches from New England to Hawaii.
The inmates restore vehicles for a unit of Silver State Industries, a wholly owned subsidiary of another “holding” institution, Nevada’s Department of Corrections.
“We Have the Time to Do It Right,” is one of the mantras on the unit’s corporate website; “Built with Conviction” is another.
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052970203911804576653670533388508.html
Inmates restore vintage cars, learn trade, the state sells the cars.
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