More than 65 people have lined up in front of a microphone in a state Senate hearing room and asked the committee to vote “aye” on a constitutional amendment that would stop the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation from penalizing inmates for refusing to work.
If passed by the state Senate, Assembly Constitutional Amendment 8 will go before voters on November’s ballot.
Some supporters wore black T-shirts with “RETIRED SLAVE” stamped across the chest. Proponents of ACA 8 want California’s Constitution to read: “Slavery in any form is prohibited.”
It strikes through existing language that adds, “Involuntary servitude is prohibited except to punish crime.” CDCR could continue to reward incarcerated people with credit toward their sentences if they choose to perform labor.
Legal Services for Prisoners with Children organized Tuesday’s Sacramento demonstration, which included an outdoor rally. The San Francisco-based group has focused on gender-based, racial, and economic issues for the incarcerated and their families for over 40 years.
“As a society, our constituents should be allowed to decide whether we still practice slavery and whether we want our constitution to say that we practice slavery,” said Lawrence Cox, an Oakland native and formerly incarcerated coordinator with Legal Services for Prisoners with Children.
Cox said the bill is about autonomy for the incarcerated. He said to the committee, “You can’t have a person trying to rehabilitate theirself and they can’t make their own decision, because when we come into society we’re making our own decisions.”
ACA 8 passed the state Assembly last September. Tuesday’s hearing in front of the state Senate Elections and Constitutional Amendments Committee is its second Senate committee. It could be its second-to-last hearing before reaching the Senate floor.
The bill’s primary author, Assemblymember Lori Wilson, D-Antioch, spoke before her colleagues in the state Senate voted. She said California is one of 16 states with a forced labor exception and that Alabama, Oregon, Tennessee, and Vermont recently removed theirs. She stressed the bill was part of the California Legislative Black Caucus’ raft of priorities.
“This is extremely important, because the legacy of slavery and forced labor runs deep in California’s history — from Indigenous people in Spanish missions from Black slaves forced to mine for gold,” Wilson said.
She continued, “Involuntary servitude in prison, right now, because of our constitution, is state-sanctioned slavery.”
The Senate Elections and Constitutional Amendments Committee agreed with her, passing it with zero no votes.
The American Civil Liberties Union wrote on its website that 32 organizations joined it as a co-sponsor of ACA 8. Their list includes organizations dedicated to decreasing recidivism and increasing racial justice.
Involuntary servitude in prison, right now, because of our constitution, is state-sanctioned slavery.
Assemblymember Lori Wilson, THE BILL’S PRIMARY AUTHOR
The ACLU in a report on incarcerated labor found that inmates’ work includes manufacturing, agriculture, in-prison services and firefighting.
For firefighting, the CDCR pays roughly $6 to $10 per day, with an additional $1 per hour from Cal Fire for active emergencies.
The ACLU’s report states that California leads the country in revenue from products made by incarcerated workers, with a total of roughly $250 million. The ACLU based those estimates on a report to state legislators by the California Prison Industry Authority. The Authority, according to its website, is a semi-autonomous state agency overseeing 5,700 incarcerated employees, created to “operate California’s prison industries in a manner similar to private industry.”
The ACLU report also cited state codes, saying inmates who refuse to work can lose access to family visits and phone calls, have personal property taken away and face solitary confinement.
The State Senate Appropriations Committee will consider the bill ahead of the full Senate.
CDCR officials did not respond to written questions by press time.
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