by Jason Davis
Being incarcerated is punishment enough without being forced to work. Although there are many reasons for working while inside—to learn job skills, combat idleness, instill rehabilitative effects, to earn income—ultimately, having an assignment is a requirement. The state has other reasons for creating work in prisons, none of which are in the interest of the inmate. The bottom line is profit. Miles Schneiderman writes in Yes! Magazine, “The value of goods and services generated by incarcerated workers is over $11 billion per year.” Bottom line economics seems to be at the heart of department intentions.
In the 1980s the US authorized the creation of the Prison Industries Authority (PIA). Throughout the system, PIA has created many low-skilled factory-like positions such as sewing, meat processing, dairy, lunch packaging, food and beverage. To many inmates, these are highly coveted jobs that pay thirty-five to eighty cents an hour. Pay increases are based on quarterly evaluations with a five-cent increase if you meet 
expectations. Having a paid job means a lot to many prisoners. However, prison labor carries a host of consequences if you quit a position or refuse to work. This includes the potential loss of good time credits, family visits, and the chance of being sent to solitary confinement. It puts things into perspective when the choice is to work or suffer the consequences. Under these circumstances, prison labor is forced servitude—modern-day slavery.
These exploitative labor practices have endured in the US for more than 150 years and are the result of the Thirteenth Amendment’s punishment exception. It reads, “Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, except as punishment for a crime whereof the party shall have been duly convicted, shall exist within the United States, or any place subject to their jurisdiction.” This has been interpreted to mean that the incarcerated are not protected under the Thirteenth Amendment. The punishment exception has paved the way for institutions to justify profiting off of inmate labor, with little to no pay going to the laborers. This raises concerns about the economic motivation underlying the Amendment’s forced labor exception. Arguably, punishment as it applies to the Thirteenth Amendment should only apply to those explicitly sentenced to labor. Daniel Yves Hall writes, “Just as the Punishment Clause in the Thirteenth Amendment focuses on individuals who have been duly convicted, the Eighth Amendment provisions are also almost uniformly applied to incarcerated individuals when determining whether treatment is constitutional.” Protection from both Amendments, as applied to the incarcerated, is not equal. While involuntary servitude in the US is not legal, forced labor as a punishment is. The Fifth Circuit Court has taken a closer look at the word “involuntary” in Watson v. Graves, 909 F.2d, 1549-1552 (1990) and found that a prisoner “who is not sentenced to hard labor retains his Thirteenth Amendment rights.”
Now we look at the word “involuntary” by following the process of an inmate to employment. If you want to enjoy privileges throughout your stay, such as yard and day room, full canteen draw ($240 per month), food sales, etc., you must have an assignment. It may be school or a job. Many prefer to work, but jobs are limited. Incarcerated workers in the prison systems number around 800,000 according to the Marshall Project. Those without an assignment lose privileges. Failure to accept an assignment may mean being sent to solitary confinement (the hole). Custody points then go up, you may be transferred to another prison, and your release date may be delayed. Many jobs pay nothing, a scenario being addressed in California this year–how that works out we will have to wait and see. There are options for jobs, e.g., porter, yard crew, ADA caregiver, kitchen, PIA, clerk, tutor, and media tech. First, you must be deemed suitable via committee action, for PIA, for instance. Then you may apply, interview, and if you’re accepted, you are assigned. Congratulations, you’re a confined worker, earning pennies. At what cost?
The Michigan Journal of Law states, “Convention #29 defines forced labor as ‘all work or service which is exacted from any person under the menace of any penalty, and for which said person has not offered himself voluntarily.'” By this definition, it is clear that prison labor qualifies as forced servitude.
It is not only prison abolitionists who understand that involuntary labor is modern-day slavery and an ongoing fact of the Prison Industrial Complex. In 2020, Democrats introduced a joint resolution in the House and Senate, the ‘Abolition Amendment,’ thereby prohibiting the imposition of involuntary servitude on the incarcerated. The measure is yet to be approved.
In 2021, California Senate Bill 1371 addressed a five-year plan implementing a schedule to increase compensation for incarcerated workers. The bill was vetoed by the governor in September of 2022. However, recently Nebraska, Utah, Colorado, Vermont, Oregon, Alabama, and Tennessee have passed amendments to their state constitutions addressing involuntary servitude and banning all forms of slavery. This is a process, a step at a time.
