A federal appeals court in Philadelphia will hear oral argument Thursday over whether to revive a class lawsuit alleging a Pennsylvania county prison’s work program amounts to forced labor in violation of state and federal law and the US Constitution.

Prisoners civilly detained for failure to pay child support are challenging the alleged forced-labor scheme at Lackawanna County Prison, which requires them to work for half their term at a privately owned recycling facility for $5 a day to qualify for a work-release program.

They say they can’t earn enough money to pay their “purge” amounts to get out of prison without work release, which a court sets for each prisoner held because of nonpayment of child support. But to qualify, they claim they’re forced into grueling, unsanitary labor tearing open trash bags and sorting debris.

The case could clarify what legal and constitutional protections apply to prison labor. About two-thirds of the 1.2 million people incarcerated in state and federal prisons work, according to an American Civil Liberties Union report published last month. Those prisoners produce more than $11 billion in goods and services each year, while earning between 13 cents and 52 cents per hour on average, the report said.

The National Employment Law Project, Constitutional Accountability Center, ACLU of Pennsylvania, Community Legal Services of...

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