The Constitution should abolish all forms of slavery and involuntary servitude — including in prisons.

It has been 157 years since the 13th Amendment abolished slavery, yet hundreds of thousands of people are still living in involuntary servitude — legally — due to loopholes in the law allowing states to extract free labor from prisons instead. Today, over 65 percent of incarcerated people report being forced to work in prison, doing jobs like firefighting and paving roads for little or no pay while governments and private companies generate billions of dollars each year from their labor.

In partnership with the University of Chicago, the ACLU conducted a study of prison labor nationwide in a new report, “Captive Labor: Exploitation of Incarcerated Workers.” Using open records requests, analysis of state and federal laws, and extensive interviews, the report documents the realities of prison labor and outlines steps lawmakers can take to protect the rights of the roughly 800,000 incarcerated people working in prisons.

“Most of my lockdown came from refusing to be a slave…working in fields of corn, etc. Free people riding horses with guns telling you to pick this, do that, and/or write you up for disciplinary just because he or she can.” — Anonymous, incarcerated in Louisiana

Prison labor is inherently coercive and exploitative. Incarcerated workers are not protected by standard labor laws, like minimum wages, overtime protection, the right to unionize, and workplace safety...

Read Full Story: https://www.aclu.org/news/prisoners-rights/captive-labor-stories-of-involunta...