{"id":254919,"date":"2022-06-30T05:30:00","date_gmt":"2022-06-30T12:30:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/calmatters.org\/?p=254919"},"modified":"2022-06-30T16:20:14","modified_gmt":"2022-06-30T23:20:14","slug":"california-prisoners-work-involuntary-servitude","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/calmatters.org\/_es\/justice\/2022\/06\/california-prisoners-work-involuntary-servitude\/","title":{"rendered":"Legisladores de California rechazan propuesta electoral que pretend\u00eda acabar con el trabajo forzoso en prisi\u00f3n"},"content":{"rendered":"
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En resumen<\/strong><\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\n\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t

Como muchos otros estados, California proh\u00edbe la esclavitud pero permite la servidumbre involuntaria de los prisioneros. Un intento de pedir a los votantes que cambiaran mediante una enmienda constitucional fracas\u00f3 en la Legislatura.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\n\t\t\n

Samual<\/a> Brown was on the front lines of the pandemic, sanitizing and disinfecting prison cells. Diagnosed with asthma, Brown, 45, said he feared contracting the virus. He wanted to quit his prison job.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He couldn\u2019t.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cMy supervisor told me \u2026 I had to do this job,\u201d Brown said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Under state law, most California prisoners are required to work. Like many other states, California forbids slavery but allows involuntary servitude to punish someone for a crime. That distinction allows state prisoners and people in jail to work without many of the same protections \u2014 minimum wage and benefits \u2014 as other California workers. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Brown and some state legislators have been trying to change that through a constitutional amendment that would outlaw involuntary servitude as a punishment for crime.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But they failed to muster enough votes before the deadline to put the proposed constitutional amendment, ACA 3, in front of voters in November. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The constitutional amendment, passed by the Assembly in March, had turned into a legislative nail-biter. But today the Assembly adjourned before the Senate voted on it, effectively killing it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Crafted by Brown while he was in prison and introduced in 2020 by then-Los Angeles Assemblymember Sydney Kamlager, the \u201cEnd Slavery in California Act<\/a>\u201d had been sailing through the Legislature. For about a year, the proposal had no registered opposition or a single no vote in committees or on the Assembly floor. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Last week, though, the amendment faced its first formidable challenge. The California Department of Finance opposed the plan \u2014 estimating it would cost $1.5 billion to pay prisoners minimum wage<\/a> \u2014 and some Democrat and Republican lawmakers became wary. The amendment failed to pass the Senate when six lawmakers voted against it June 23 while another 13 did not record a vote.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Constitutional amendments require two-thirds yes votes to clear each floor, and even then would require voter approval.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThis amendment rips the Band-Aid off of wounds that have not healed,\u201d Kamlager told CalMatters this week. \u201cWe figure out ways to be innovative and aspirational when it comes to women\u2019s rights, immigrant’s rights, environmentalism. Why can\u2019t we use the same muscle when it comes to slavery?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n

David A. Carrillo, executive director of Berkeley Law\u2019s California Constitution Center, said in an email that involuntary servitude is akin to slavery. If voters were to ever pass such an amendment, he said, the state could be forced to change its regulations. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Currently, all able-bodied prisoners are required to either work or participate in rehabilitative programming, or a combination of the two.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation declined to comment on the proposal.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

However, department spokesperson Dana Simas told CalMatters in an email that incarcerated people \u201creceive credits off of their prison terms for participation in work assignments, as well as rehabilitation, education and self-help programs.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cEvery job is dignified, and they are jobs that are similar to those outside of prison,\u201d she said. The work assignments teach valuable skills, she stated, helping prepare them to go back into their communities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Simas also said declining or refusing to work can lead to discipline. Punishment includes housing changes and write-ups<\/a> that can affect a person’s parole, among other things. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThey have various ways they force you,\u201d said Brown, who was released this year from California State Prison in Los Angeles County. \u201cThis includes stripping you of your phone rights, stripping you of your visitation rights, stripping you of your ability to order personal food.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Prison workers are often used to help cook and keep facilities clean and operating. They also create license plates<\/a>, fight wildfires<\/a> and work for private companies<\/a>. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

According to the bill analysis<\/a>, most prisoners, apart from firefighters, make between 8 cents and 37 cents an hour.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWhen you commit serious crimes, you do give up your liberties,\u201d said Democrat Sen. Steve Glazer of Orinda. \u201cAnd part of that liberty is that you have to help in the kitchen, preparing food for everyone, and I don\u2019t apologize for that view.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

After twice tweaking the language, Kamlager was still adamant that the amendment remove forced labor from California\u2019s prisons.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAs long as slavery is on the books, then rehabilitation is second.\u201d <\/p>Samual Brown, former prisoner who crafted amendment<\/cite><\/blockquote><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The effort to remove involuntary servitude as a punishment from California\u2019s Constitution is part of a nationwide trend. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The issue fueled new debate after Ava Duverney\u2019s 2016 Academy Award-winning Netflix documentary, \u201c13th<\/em><\/a>.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Involuntary servitude as punishment for a crime became legal as the U.S. banned slavery in 1865<\/a> with the 13th Amendment. At the time, the law was used to force newly freed Black people \u2014 children, women and adults \u2014 back into a legalized version of slavery.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cSouthern senators knew very well what they were doing, which was basically trying to create a path back into slavery for Black people in a way in which they would not be able to escape,\u201d said Michele Goodwin, a UC Irvine Law Professor who wrote \u201cThe Thirteenth Amendment: Modern Slavery, Capitalism, and Mass Incarceration<\/a>\u201d for the Cornell Law Review.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

More than 150 years later, the same law that permitted involuntary servitude as a criminal punishment is still in the U.S. Constitution and on the books in many states, including California. In November, voters in Alabama, Louisiana, Vermont, Oregon and Tennessee will weigh in on removing involuntary servitude<\/a> from their state constitutions. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

En 2020, Nebraska<\/a> and Utah voters overwhelmingly decided to remove slavery as a punishment for crime<\/a> from their state constitutions. Colorado led the way in 2018 when voters abolished slavery and servitude<\/a> from their constitution. It also has made its way to the U.S. Senate. Oregon Sen. Jeff Merkley introduced an amendment to the 13th<\/sup> Amendment<\/a> to remove involuntary servitude as a criminal punishment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIf Utah and Nebraska can do it, certainly California can,\u201d Goodwin said. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

While other states changed their constitutions before California, many are still figuring out how those changes will affect their prison population.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In Nebraska, some jails are now paying prisoners who used to work for free<\/a>. Last year, former and current Colorado prisoners filed a lawsuit against the state after being punished for refusing to work<\/a>. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Samual
Samual Brown, 45, crafted the proposal to remove involuntary servitude from the California Constitution. \u201cWhat we are fighting for in this bill is a monumental piece of legislation in our generation,\u201d Brown said. Photo by Pablo Unzueta for CalMatters<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

In California, Samual Brown contends lawmakers tried to \u201csteal the narrative\u201d by making the amendment about minimum wage. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cOur first and primary goal is to end slavery,\u201d he said, adding that the bill would have done that in prison settings. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

On June 27 \u2014 186 days after being released from prison and weeks after earning his bachelor\u2019s degree from California State University, Los Angeles \u2014 Brown said he hopes his advocacy will give more California prisoners the opportunity to focus on rehabilitation, instead of work.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThis bill is about \u2026 plac(ing) rehabilitation and public safety over forced labor,\u201d Brown said. \u201cAs long as slavery is on the books, then rehabilitation is second.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

For the record: This story was updated on June 30, 2022, to elaborate on the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation’s response to existing work requirements for California prisoners and their potential benefits.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\t\n\t\t

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\n\t\t\t\t\tmore on prison labor<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t<\/h2>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t
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A medida que se acerca la temporada de incendios forestales, California suma 900 bomberos a sus equipos<\/a><\/h3>\t\t\t\t\t\t

Hay menos reclusos disponibles para equipos de mano, por lo que el estado est\u00e1 llenando el vac\u00edo. Hasta ahora, este a\u00f1o se ha quemado un poco m\u00e1s de superficie que el a\u00f1o pasado. <\/p>\n\t\t\t\t

\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/a>\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tby<\/span> Rachel Becker<\/a><\/span>\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t
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Nueva ley en 1 minuto: California facilita la contrataci\u00f3n de bomberos ex reclusos<\/a><\/h3>\t\t\t\t\t\t

As California has faced its most devastating wildfire season on record, nearly a third of the people on the frontlines have been state prisoners. Despite their firsthand experience, many incarcerated people couldn’t become firefighters after being released. A new California law aims to change that and make it easier to hire formerly incarcerated firefighters. Until\u2026<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t

\n\t\t\t\t\t\"\"<\/a>elizabeth castillo<\/a>\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tby<\/span> Nick Roberts<\/a><\/span> and Elizabeth Castillo<\/a><\/span>\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t