Don’t condemn McDonald’s for giving prisoners a day job

In the aftermath of Daniel Khalife’s escape and recapture, prisons are in the headlines. Even the most commonplace events, like a prison stabbing, are being widely reported. So, too, is the revelation that ‘prisoners are working in McDonald’s’: that was the gist of an article in the Daily Mail which revealed that a female prisoner was flipping burger and serving customers. But rather than condemn this initiative, we should praise McDonald’s for taking on inmates and giving them another chance.

The female McDonald’s worker, who returned to Askham Grange in Yorkshire after her shift, is far from alone in being let out for the day: approximately 100,000 Releases on Temporary Licence (ROTLs) occur every three months. These releases mostly take place from Category D or ‘open’ prisons. Open prisons are low security establishments for inmates in the last three years of their sentence who are deemed to pose a minimal risk.