Maine prisoners earn remote jobs with global tech firms in new program
MAINE, UNITED STATES — An initiative in Maine is giving incarcerated individuals the ability to work remote jobs while serving their sentences.
The program, currently accommodating about 30 inmates, allows participants to pursue meaningful employment, surrendering 10% of their wages to the state alongside any restitution, legal fees, or child support payments required.
Preston Thorpe: Software engineer while incarcerated
Preston Thorpe exemplifies the potential of the initiative. Now in his 11th year behind bars for drug-related offenses, Thorpe works full-time as a software engineer for a San Francisco-based startup, Turso. His technical skills caught the eye of Turso’s CEO, Glauber Costa, after Thorpe became a contributor to the company’s open source project.
“I checked his GitHub profile, and he mentions the fact that he is incarcerated. It’s a story I’ve never seen before,” Costa told TechCrunch.
Thorpe, who was once homeless and reoffending, now spends most of his waking hours learning and coding. He credits the Mountain View Correctional Facility in Maine’s environment and remote work opportunities for helping him envision a different future.
“COVID happened right after I came up here, and it just gave me a chance — there was no one around that I felt like I had to act or prove myself to. It was just me,” Thorpe recalled.
“I actually felt like maybe it’s not over; maybe I could actually end up having a normal life. I had this kind of epiphany: ‘I’m going to make something of myself.’”
Rehabilitation, community impact, and recidivism
Maine’s program serves as an example of rehabilitative justice in action.
“Maine has been a real groundbreaker in this area,” said Haley Shoaf, co-executive director of Unlocked Labs, which hires incarcerated engineers to build educational tools for prisons.
The state established a remote education infrastructure during COVID, which later expanded to support employment opportunities.
Commissioner Randall Liberty of Maine’s Department of Corrections credits his altered approach to rehabilitation to experiences abroad and at home. “It’s very short-sighted, ridiculous to lock them up and release them more traumatized than when they arrived, right?” he asked.
Under his watch, Maine’s recidivism rate for men is 21%–23%, and just 9% for women, with near-zero rates among those participating in college courses.
Last year, incidents of violence in maximum-security prisons dramatically declined. “When you treat people like people, they become the best version of themselves,” Shoaf said.
