What is the context?
Slavery and forced labor are still a legal form of punishment in the US states. This is how things are changing
- Clause in the 13th Amendment allows slavery as punishment
- Voters to vote on changes to slavery laws
- Study: Abolishing the “exception clause” could bring in $20 billion annually
RICHMOND – A growing number of states are trying to close what critics call a loophole in the 13th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, which abolished slavery but still effectively legalized forced labor as punishment for convicted convicts.
The 1865 amendment abolished slavery except as a punishment for crime.
Voters in California and Nevada will be able to vote in the November election on whether to extend the ban to prisoners, with more than half a dozen other states already joining the growing movement.
“This is one of those things from the civil rights era that we are still fighting for and that needs to be changed,” says Christopher Blackwell, an inmate in Washington state who writes about and advocates for prison reform.
Even if prisoners are paid for their work, “they are forced to work for a very, very small amount of money, and that is slavery,” Blackwell told Context by phone.
At the end of 2022, there were about 1.2 million people in U.S. state and federal prisons.
Of these, about 800,000 people work, many of them earning less than a dollar an hour, according to a study published earlier this year by the consulting firm Edgeworth Economics and published by Worth Rises., an advocacy group that advocates for the rights of prisoners.
Correctional officials say prison work teaches inmates skills that will be useful after they are released, and that increasing their wages could be costly to taxpayers.
“Our jobs provide inmates with employable job skills and social skills that will help them find employment after they are released from our facilities,” said Chris Wright, spokesman for the Washington State Department of Corrections (DOC).
Hourly wages for prisoners in this state are as high as $2.85 – making them among the highest hourly wages in the country.
“Most of our facilities have waiting lists for these positions,” Wright said. He said some positions are offered based on voluntary registration by prison inmates, while others are assigned.
But more and more states are pushing for change. Anti-slavery activists say more than a dozen states are considering possible laws that could protect prisoners’ labor rights.
The current push does not follow any set political pattern; both Republican and Democratic-controlled states are striving for change, says Dennis Febo, lead organizer of the advocacy group Abolish Slavery National Network (ASNN).
“Red and blue don’t matter – not at all,” he said, referring to the colors associated with the two major political parties.
“We saw so many white people fighting back against it and really making a difference, and we saw people of color fighting back against it. So it didn’t look like race; it didn’t look like political affiliation.”
Growing momentum for change?
In 1843, Rhode Island was the first state to ban slavery in any form through its constitution.
In Oregon, Utah, Colorado, Nebraska, Tennessee, Alabama and Vermont, voters have passed legislative changes in recent years to formally abolish slavery as a punishment, although some states are still grappling with implementation.
According to ASNN, more than a dozen other states, including New Jersey, Texas and Minnesota, have recently considered or are in the process of considering similar bills.
In Nevada, voters will have the opportunity to vote on a ballot question in November that asks whether to remove language from the state constitution that allows slavery and involuntary servitude as criminal punishment.
Voters in neighboring California will also consider a similar ballot initiative.
A spokesman for the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR) said they are still working on analyzing the costs of implementing the proposed measure.
The legislative process has been an “emotional roller coaster,” said Jeronimo Aguilar, a policy analyst with the advocacy group Legal Services for Prisoners with Children.
“I think there’s a lot of truth in the saying, ‘What goes in California goes in the country,'” Aguilar said.
“The development has spread nationwide and I think that the momentum could now increase even further and create a wildfire that spreads across the entire country.”
Lawmakers in the nation’s capital are also pushing for federal legislation that they will prioritize around Juneteenth Day, the national holiday on June 19 that commemorates the abolition of slavery in the United States.
Economic concerns
Opponents of such efforts point to potential costs to states and disruptions in prisons that could arise if inmates suddenly received higher wages or new rights to refuse work.
Washington state lawmakers considered raising inmate pay to the state minimum wage last year, but the plan failed due to concerns about costs, the Seattle Times reported.
According to the state Department of Corrections, it would cost taxpayers $124 million a year if all inmates in the state’s prisons were paid at least the minimum wage for their work.
Another attempt in California to push through a referendum failed in 2022 after a budget impact statement estimated that raising prisoner salaries could cost $1.5 billion a year.
A study published earlier this year found that ending unpaid work in US prisons could save up to $20 billion annually. The increased labor costs would be more than offset by the fact that prisoners would be able to better provide for themselves and their families and earn more upon release.
“You are here to be rehabilitated and prepared to return to society as a productive member,” said Blackwell, the imprisoned writer.
“They should be offering you work here that will help you save money…not just exploit and abuse your labor.”
(Reporting by David Sherfinski; Editing by Ayla Jean Yackley and Sonia Elks.)
