Amendment would ban ‘servitude’ by inmates
SACRAMENTO (AP) — California relies on thousands of inmates to fight massive wildfires, churn out vehicle license plates, mop prison floors and myriad other tasks — all for wages that rarely top a few dollars a day.
Opponents want to end what they call a visage of slavery. They propose to amend the state Constitution’s ban on indentured servitude to remove an exemption for people who are being punished for crimes.
Prison labor predominantly affects Black and Latino people who make up the majority of inmates, San Francisco Supervisor Matt Haney said Thursday. He is asking the Board of Supervisors to become the first to formally back the overhaul proposed by Democratic Assemblywoman Sydney Kamlager of Los Angeles.
“Even through the COVID-19 pandemic, California inmates have
been forced to work for as low as 8 cents per hour,” he said. “Many have been on the front lines fighting our increasingly dangerous wildfires, earning just $2 to $6 a day.”
California has long depended on
inmate firefighters to help battle increasingly monstrous wildfires. But their numbers have dwindled in recent years as the state has eased sentencing laws and shifted more offenders to county custody instead of state prisons.
The state also depends on inmates to work as cooks, custodians, gardeners and many other roles that keep the prison system running from day to day.
Inmates also work for the Prison Industry Authority, which has produced most of the prison system’s protective equipment during the pandemic along with more traditional products such as vehicle license plates, furniture, road signs, clothing and numerous food products.
Ending such programs “would be devastating to California, especially on the fire crews,” said Nina Salarno, president of Crime Victims United of California. “This law would hurt rehabilitation efforts ... because you are then taking away incentives for inmates to learn skills and trades so they can come back into society and be self-sufficient.”