Terry L. Greenberg, a federal prison inmate incarcerated in Florida, sued the U.S. Government, alleging that it owed him an extra $20,000 for working in a prison factory in 1991 and 1992. Mr. Greenberg sought redress based on the theory that minimum wage laws apply to prisoners, and indeed there seems to be nothing in the current law to suggest that they don't. Inmates earn, on average, about 40 cents an hour.

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