This past summer, California’s wildfires consumed national news. Residents of Southern California were forced to evacuate their homes to escape the monstrous fires engulfing the area. Firefighters from all over the region sprung into action to fight the blaze, including many consigned from the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR). These prison-labor firefighters are paid approximately $2/hour. The position involves passing a fitness test and training by California Fire to eventually participate in of the most dangerous jobs in the country. In February 2016, female inmate Shawna Lynn Jones died after being injured fighting a fire in Malibu. This is one example of how some forms of prison labor can present real danger for inmates; in the case of the consigned firefighters, they are paid below state minimum wage to risk their lives. Where does this practice come from, and how is it justified?
Conscripted labor in the United States has a long history. The story of convict labor began in the original colonies: many of these original settlements were established using the practice of sending European convicts to the New World to work and develop a colony. This was common practice until the United States gained its independence in 1776. After the Civil War and the passage of the 13th Amendment, Southern states legislated harsh penal codes that led to the imprisonment of blacks, who were then forced into prison labor. Prisoners were paid next-to-nothing and were treated with cruelty reminiscent of slavery. Though the methodology and conditions of conscripted labor have changed, the practice is still commonly accepted today.
The 13th Amendment, which abolished non-penal slavery, is the constitutional backbone for prison labor laws. It is an amendment that explicitly allows otherwise-unalienable rights to be waived for the imprisoned. This amendment causes many to equate prison labor with slavery, a concept most explored in the pivotal Netflix Documentary, "13th". There are two varieties of prison laborers in the United States: those who provide services for the prison who do not profit off said labor, and those who work for private organizations and receive pay.
In a statutory analysis of prison labor, the scope of laws like The Federal Labor Standards Act (FLSA) must be examined. Are prisoners exempt from labor regulations? The test used to decide whether or not a “relationship between a company and an employee” (a qualifier for protections under FLSA) exists is: if this occupation is exempted under statutory law, and if the employer has sufficient control over the conditions and terms of employment. For prisoners using private contracts, it was only in 1984 that Carter vs. Dutchess County Community College decided that the “amount of employee prerogatives applied to the prisoner is what determined them to be an employee of a corporation”. This was good news for prisoners that work for corporations, but for prisoners conscripted by a prison (the state or federal government), court decisions have been less beneficial. In National League of Cities vs. Usery (1975), The FLSA was deemed inapplicable to state employees. This ruling exempted non-private prison workers from FLSA. Compounded with 13th Amendment, this decision meant that standards for conscripted labor would be regulated by prison leadership rather than law.
In many prisons, conscripted labor is not a choice, but practically mandatory. In an Atlantic documentary detailing life in “plantation-turned-penitentiary” Angola Prison in Louisiana, inmates are required to work, sometimes on the same fields of slave ancestors, where prison guards oversee work on horseback. Inmates are threatened with revocation of the possibility of promotion, parole or probation if they don’t agree to conscription. They are often punished with solitary confinement or retention of other privileges if they refuse to labor. This is one of the many ways prisons can compel inmates towards labor. Even if some prisons don’t utilize this same methodology, other schemes such as high commissary charges or fee penalties connected to their sentence can be used to incentivize labor. The average wage for prison workers is between 14 cents to 63 cents per hour while prisoners who work for “Correctional Industries” earn from 33 cents to $1.31. Often, commissary prices consume the majorities of these already paltry incomes.
Despite the lack of labor protections for prison laborers, many believe that programs that employ private companies for inmate work will help by giving them working skills along with “soft skills”. By possessing employment skills like welding or cooking, inmates will be able to apply for jobs using these skills upon their release. “Soft skills” such as budgeting and time management are also vital tools for a recently released inmate. Having some form of income while imprisoned also gives inmates a “head start” when they reenter society after being released. Non-contracted prison labor is generally used to facilitate this sort of program in a prison. Prisoners’ work in non-contracted systems support prison churches, food serving and the cleaning of facilities, among other areas. This sort of work environment is intended to create a culture of community in prisons and give inmates a sense of purpose and an escape from boredom. Prisoners participating in non-contract labor are generally less violence-prone.
The ongoing dialogue regarding uncontrolled prison labor has had some reforming effect on the federal level. The Prison Industry Enhancement (PIE) Program, created in 1979, began to create a prison work environment that mirrored that of the real world. The goal of PIE program was to help prisoners work for competitive wages, as normal employees in their field world. Prisoners in PIE are also given limited benefits, allowed consultations with organized labor unions and guaranteed job conditions that follow basic standards. Florida’s PIE program boasted only a 10.1% recidivism rate of program-affiliated inmates 2010. This is a large step in the right direction for prisoners’ rights, but still very few facilities participate in the program. More prisons need to implement PIE or a similar program; the corrections industry as a whole must be held responsible for denying prisoners their basic labor rights.