Nationwide, states are reevaluating whether involuntary servitude has a place in prisons, including lawmakers in California. Currently, the state is one of 16 that allows for this forced labor exception.
However, there is a bill — Assembly Constitutional Amendment No. 8 — that’s working its way through the state and aims to end this practice. It would let voters decide whether to change the language in the state constitution to "prohibit slavery in any form, including forced labor, but the use of threat or threat of physical or legal coercion."
Those who are currently incarcerated are generally paid from $0.08 to $0.37 an hour, which comes out to about $12 to $56 monthly paychecks, depending on the type of labor. Often the jobs include making furniture for state offices, stamping license plates, debris cleanup and fighting wildfires alongside other fire agencies.
The prison population is also disproportionately people of color. While Black residents make up just 6% of the state's overall population, in prisons, Black people make up 28% of the population — that's more than four times the percentage of the general public, according to the Public Policy Institute of California.
CapRadio’s Vicki Gonzalez spoke with Dorsey Nunn, Executive Director of Legal Services for Prisoners with Children and Co-Founder of All of Us or None, and Assembly member Lori D. Wilson,...
By Andrew Goudsward WASHINGTON, May 6 (Reuters) – A U.S. judge on Wednesday ruled that the Justice Department can keep 2020 election ballots seized during an FBI search in January, a win for Presi...