In America, most people aren't really that familiar with our justice system, let alone, the rules and regulations for incarceration, so things such as being convicted and then given as one's sentence "hard labor", seems to be something that used to happen back in the day, or is a myth, or really doesn't exist in America at the present time. Right? Yet, if you take a look at our Constitution the very seeds for hard labor are written into the 13th Amendment, which states: "Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, except as a punishment for crime whereof the party shall have been duly convicted…" though this is somewhat mitigated by the 8th Amendment, which reads: "… nor cruel and unusual punishments inflicted." Yet, it's hard to take much encouragement from the 8th Amendment, for the death penalty, still exists in certain States of America, so cruelty, legally, seems rather subjective.
In actual fact, hard labor, is a condition that some must suffer under for being duly convicted in a court of law for their crime, which, to a certain degree, makes some sort of sense, for many Americans, believe that incarceration should have some degree of punishment attached to it, that is to say, inmates shouldn't be permitted to just lounge around all day, but should be mandated to labor, or to learn, or to do something of merit each day, which seems to be, fair and reasonable.
The problem, though, with hard labor, is that there should be a clear and precise definition of what hard labor actually means in effect, and there should be a hard line as to what the authorities are or are not allowed to do against recalcitrant inmates compelled to hard labor, and what that labor is or isn't allowed to be In the first place. For instance, as might be expected, prisons are primarily run in a manner that the outside world, that is, the general public, doesn't have a real good idea of what is actually happening inside of the prison, and those that supervise our prison institutions, for the most part, aren't going to make the safety and treatment of prisoners their top or primary concern, which means, in effect, that hard labor, can and will look or degenerate into a modern-type of slavery.
This means, that those subject to hard labor, that are cleared by medical professionals to work out in the fields, and don't do so, will be punished for it, not by corporal punishment, though, doubtless this does occur, instead, they will lose prison privileges such as visitation rights and will be subject to solitary confinement for their disobedience, amongst other possible punishments or privations. Those that do actually labor, as part of their term of imprisonment, typically won't get paid for it, and for the most part won't be protected by any of our numerous labor laws, because they aren't legally employees of the incarceration facility, which gives the incarceration authorities pretty much carte blanche to do whatever that they may with these prisoners, especially since they are the ones in control of that narrative.
While there is something to be said for making those that are incarcerated, to perform some sort of labor, even hard labor, these convicts, though, are still human beings, and no legitimate governing authority, should be permitted to abuse or mistreat them as if they were animals, or chattel property. Those days should be long pass, and should never be revisited again. The state in all of its many forms, has a responsibility to under all of its circumstances, to treat people, even incarcerated people, as fellow human beings, still entitled to all of their basic human rights, to do less, then, is cruel and it isn't right.