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1 The International Trade Union Confederation is a worldwide union network that represents 207 million workers
in 163 countries and territories. ITUC’s primary mission is to promote and defend workers’ rights through
international cooperation between trade unions, global campaigning and advocacy within major global
institutions. Among its affiliates is the American Federation of Labor-Congress of Industrial Organizations
(AFL-CIO), a voluntary federation of 56 national and international labor organizations with a total membership
of 11.5 million working men and women in the United States, including 3 million members in Working America,
its community affiliate.
2 This submission was drafted by the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU). The ACLU is a nationwide,
nonprofit, nonpartisan organization with more than 4 million members, activists, and supporters, dedicated to
defending the principles of liberty and equality embodied in the U.S. Constitution and our nation’s civil rights
laws, and ensuring the United States upholds its international human rights commitments. The ACLU has offices
in all 50 states, Puerto Rico, and Washington, D.C.
3 American Civil Liberties Union and University of Chicago Global Human Rights Clinic, Captive Labor:
Exploitation of Incarcerated Workers, June 2022, https://www.aclu.org/sites/default/files/field_document/2022-
06-15-captivelaborresearchreport.pdf.
•
•
•
•
4 Ratifications for U.S. of America, International Labour Organization,
https://www.ilo.org/dyn/normlex/en/f?p=1000:11200:0::NO:11200:P11200_COUNTRY_ID:102871 (last visited
June 29, 2023).
5 Abolition of Forced Labour Convention, Art. 1, 1957 (No. 105).
6 Forced Labour Convention, Art. 2(1), 1930 (No.29).
7 What is Forced Labour, Modern Slavery, and Human Trafficking: What is Forced Labour?, International
Labour Organization, https://www.ilo.org/global/topics/forced-labour/definition/lang–en/index.htm (last visited
June 29, 2023).
8 Forced Labour Convention, Article 2(1), 1930 (No.29); Abolition of Forced Labour Convention, Art. 1, 1957
(No. 105).
9 ILO, International Labour Conference, Report of the Committee of Experts on the Application of Conventions
and Recommendations, para. 138 at. 230 (1962), https://www.ilo.org/public/libdoc/ilo/P/09661/09661(1962-46-
IV)191-289.pdf. For further analysis of the Abolition of Forced Labour Convention (No. 105) and prison labor
on the U.S., see also Adelle Blackett and Alice Duquesnoy, Slavery Is Not a Metaphor: U.S. Prison Labor and
Racial Subordination Through the Lens of the ILO’s Abolition of Forced Labor Convention, 67 UCLA L. REV.
1504 (2021), https://www.uclalawreview.org/slavery-is-not-a-metaphor-u-s-prison-labor-and-racial-
subordination-through-the-lens-of-the-ilos-abolition-of-forced-labor-convention/.
10 ILO, International Labour Conference, Eradication of Forced Labour, Report III (Part 1B), General Survey
Concerning the Forced Labour Convention, 1930 (No. 29) and the Abolition of Forced Labour Convention, 1957
(No. 105) at para. 191 (2007), https://www.ilo.org/public/libdoc/ilo/P/09661/09661(2007)1B.pdf.
11 ILO, International Labour Conference, Eradication of Forced Labour, Report III (Part 1B), General Survey
Concerning the Forced Labour Convention, 1930 (No. 29) and the Abolition of Forced Labour Convention, 1957
(No. 105) at 81 (2007), https://www.ilo.org/public/libdoc/ilo/P/09661/09661(2007)1B.pdf.
12 Abolition of Forced Labour Convention, Art. 1(b) & (c), 1957 (No. 105).
13 U.S. Dep’t of Justice, Bureau of Justice Statistics, Survey of Prison Inmates, U.S., 2016. Inter-university
Consortium for Political and Social Research [distributor], (Sept. 2021), https://doi.org/10.3886/ICPSR37692.v4.
This figure is based on ACLU analysis of the published raw survey data.
14 See, e.g., Mikeska v. Collins, 900 F.2d 833, 837 (5th Cir. 1990) (“Any unjustified refusal to follow the
established work regime is an invitation to sanctions.”). See also U.S. Dep’t of Justice, Federal Bureau of
Prisons, Inmate Work and Performance Pay, § 545.20 (Oct. 1, 2008), https://www.onlabor.org/wp-
content/uploads/2015/05/5251_006.pdf.
15 See Special Action Programme to Combat Forced Labour, Combatting Forced Labour: A Handbook for
Employers & Business 2 Employers’ Frequently Asked Questions, International Labour Organization (2015).
16 U.S. CONST. amend. XIII (“Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, except as a punishment for crime
whereof the party shall have been duly convicted, shall exist within the U.S., or any place subject to their
jurisdiction”).
17 See, e.g., U.S. v. Reynolds, 235 U.S. 133, 149 (1914) (“There can be no doubt that the State has authority to
impose involuntary servitude as a punishment for crime”); Pollock v. Williams, 322 U.S. 4, 17 (1944) (“Forced
labor has been sustained as a means of punishing crime”). See also Williams v. Henagan, 595 F.3d 610 (5th Cir.
2010); Murray v. Mississippi Department Of Corrections, 911 F.2d 1167 (5th Cir. 1990); Vanskike v. Peters, 974
F.2d 806, 809 (7th Cir. 1992) (“The Thirteenth Amendment excludes convicted criminals from the prohibition of
involuntary servitude, so prisoners may be required to work… Further, there is no constitutional right to
compensation for such work; compensation for prison labor is “by Grace Of The State””); Ruark v. Solano, 928
F.2d 947, 949–50 (10th Cir. 1991) (“The thirteenth amendment’s restriction on involuntary servitude does not
apply to prisoners”), overruled on other grounds by Lewis v. Casey, 518 U.S. 343 (1996); Omasta v. Wainwright,
696 F.2d 1304, 1305 (11th Cir. 1983) (holding “that where a prisoner is incarcerated pursuant to a presumptively
valid judgment and commitment order issued by a court of competent jurisdiction and is forced to work pursuant
to prison regulations or state statutes, the Thirteenth Amendment’s prohibition against involuntary servitude is
not implicated”); Draper v. Rhay, 315 F.2d 193, 197 (9th Cir. 1963) (“Prison rules may require appellant to work
but this is not the sort of involuntary servitude which violates Thirteenth Amendment rights…where a person is
duly tried, convicted, sentenced and imprisoned for crime in accordance with law, no issue of peonage or
involuntary servitude arises”).
18 These states are Arkansas, California, Georgia, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Michigan,
Minnesota, Mississippi, North Carolina, North Dakota, Ohio, and Wisconsin.
19 Ga. Const. art. 1, § XXII (emphasis added).
20 Ca. Const. art. 1, § VI.
21 28 C.F.R. § 545.20(a)(2) (2020).
22 See U.S. Dep’t of Justice, Bureau of Justice Statistics, Data Collected Under the First Step Act, 2019, at 12
(Mar. 2020), https://bjs.ojp.gov/content/pub/pdf/dcfsa19.pdf.
23 E.g., La. R.S. 15:832(A); Ca. Penal § 2700; Fla. Stat. § 946.002(1)(A) (2019); Mo. Ann. Stat. § 217.337 (West
2020); Ga. Comp. R. & Regs. 125-3-2.04(c) (2021); Wash. Admin. Code § 137-25-30 (2019); N.Y. Comp. Codes
R. & Regs. tit. 7, § 270.2(B)(5)(iii) (2020).
24 Mo. Ann. Stat. § 217.337 (West 2020).
25 Fallis v. U.S., 263 F. Supp. 780 (M.D. Pa. 1967).
26 28 C.F.R. § 541.3 (2020).
27 28 C.F.R. § 541.3 (2020).
28 See 28 C.F.R. § 541.3 (2020).
29 See, e.g., Mikeska v. Collins, 900 F.2d 833, 837 (5th Cir. 1990) (“Any unjustified refusal to follow the
established work regime is an invitation to sanctions.”). See also U.S. Dep’t of Justice, Federal Bureau of
Prisons, Inmate Work and Performance Pay, § 545.20 (Oct. 1, 2008), https://www.onlabor.org/wp-
content/uploads/2015/05/5251_006.pdf.
30 Florida Department of Corrections, Inmate Orientation Guide Reception Center Processing (2016) at 8,
http://www.dc.state.fl.us/pub/files/inmateorientationhandbook.pdf.
31 Fla. Admin. Code R33-601.314,
https://www.law.umich.edu/special/policyclearinghouse/documents/florida%20inmate%20code%20of%20condu
ct.pdf.
32 Oregon Constitution Art. 1 § 41; and Balletopedia Oregon State Prison Inmates Required to Work Full Time,
Measure 17 (1994), https://ballotpedia.org/Oregon_State_Prison_Inmates_Required_to_Work_Full
_Time,_Measure_17_(1994).
33 Honor housing is an area within a higher security prison for selected incarcerated people, usually with fewer
restrictions. Jason Wilson, Inmate Details Alarming Conditions at Oregon Prison Amid Coronavirus Pandemic,
THE GUARDIAN (April 12, 2020); Tess Riski, Oregon Hospitals Rely on Prison Labor to Do Their Laundry
During the Pandemic, WILAMETTE WEEK (April 22, 2020).
34 Tex. Pub. L. § 497.099(a); Texas Department of Criminal Justice, Disciplinary Rules and Procedures for
Offenders, Correctional Institutions Division (Aug. 2019) at 23.
35 Tenn. Admin. Code § 41-2-120(a)
36 Written survey response by [Name withheld to preserve anonymity, at survey respondent’s request],
incarcerated at Centralia Correctional Center, IL (on file with authors).
37 Administrative Directive 10.1: Inmate Assignment and Pay Plan, ST. OF CONN. DEP’T OF CORR., 4(a) (2015),
https://portal.ct.gov/-/media/doc/pdf/ad/ad1001pdf.pdf?la=en.
38 Cal. Code Regs. tit. 15, § 3044(f) (2018).
39 Cal. Code Regs. tit. 15, §§ 3315(f)(5)(d) (2020), 3331(b) (2017).
40 Cal. Code Regs. tit. 15, §§ 3315(g) (2020), 3044(5)-(6) (2018).
41 Interview with N’ashid Abdul Latif, former hospice worker in California Medical Facility prison (Dec. 16,
2020). (on file with authors).
42 Cal. Code Regs. tit. 15, §§ 2281(c), 2402(c), 2422(c), 2432(c).
43 Interview with N’ashid Abdul Latif, former hospice worker in California Medical Facility prison (Dec. 16,
2020). (on file with authors).
44 Vera Institute of Justice, The Safe Alternatives to Segregation Initiative: Findings and Recommendations for
the Louisiana Department of Public Safety and Corrections, and Progress Toward Implementation (May 2019),
https://storage.googleapis.com/vera-web-assets/downloads/Publications/safe-alternatives-segregation-initiative-
findings-recommendations/legacy_downloads/safe-alternatives-segregation-initiative-findings-
recommendations-ldps.pdf; Eli Cahan, Nick Chrastil, Louisiana Policy Intended to Reform Solitary Confinement
Still Leaves People in Indefinite Lockdown, THE INTERCEPT (Dec. 15, 2021),
https://theintercept.com/2021/12/15/solitary-confinement-reform-louisiana-dpsc-vera/.
45 Interview with Dolfinette Martin, housing director, Operation Restoration, in New Orleans, LA (Nov. 8, 2019)
(on file with authors).
46 The Uncounted Workforce, NPR: PLANET MONEY (Jun. 29, 2020), https://www.npr.org/transcripts/884989263.
47 Solitary Watch, ACLU of Louisiana, and the Jesuit Social Research Institute/Loyola University New Orleans,
Louisiana on Lockdown, SOLITARY WATCH (Jun. 2019) at 67, https://solitarywatch.org/wp-
content/uploads/2019/06/Louisiana-on-Lockdown-Report-June-2019.pdf.
48 Interview with Kelly Savage-Rodriguez, California Coalition for Women Prisoners (Apr. 30. 2020) (on file with
authors).
49 Rachel Ellis, Prison Labor in a Pandemic, 19 CONTEXTS: SOC. FOR THE PUB. 66 (Dec. 14, 2020),
https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/1536504220977950.
50 Rachel Ellis, Prison Labor in a Pandemic, 19 CONTEXTS: SOC. FOR THE PUB. 66 (Dec. 14, 2020),
https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/1536504220977950.
51 Marjorie Segule, Katherine LeMasters, Meghan Peterson et al., Incarcerated Workers: Overlooked as
Essential Workers, BMC PUBLIC HEALTH 22, 506 (Mar. 2022), https://doi.org/10.1186/s12889-022-12886-7.
51 Tess Riski, Oregon Hospitals Rely on Prison Labor to Do Their Laundry During the Pandemic, WILLAMETTE
WEEK (Apr. 22, 2020), https://www.wweek.com/news/2020/04/22/oregon-hospitals-rely-on-prison-labor-to-do-
their-laundry-during-the-pandemic/; Marissane Lewis-Thompson, Missouri Inmates Clean Hospital Laundry,
ST. LOUIS PUBLIC RADIO (Apr. 29, 2020), https://news.stlpublicradio.org/health-science-environment/2020-04-
29/missouri-inmates-clean-hospital-laundry.
52 Tess Riski, Oregon Hospitals Rely on Prison Labor to Do Their Laundry During the Pandemic, WILLAMETTE
WEEK (Apr. 22, 2020), https://www.wweek.com/news/2020/04/22/oregon-hospitals-rely-on-prison-labor-to-do-
their-laundry-during-the-pandemic/; Marissane Lewis-Thompson, Missouri Inmates Clean Hospital Laundry,
ST. LOUIS PUBLIC RADIO (Apr. 29, 2020), https://news.stlpublicradio.org/health-science-environment/2020-04-
29/missouri-inmates-clean-hospital-laundry.
53 Alana Rocha, Incarcerated Texans Enlisted to Work in County Morgue as COVID-19 Deaths Overwhelm El
Paso, TEXAS TRIBUNE (Nov. 15, 2020), https://www.texastribune.org/2020/11/15/coronavirus-texas-el-paso-
inmates-morgue-deaths/.
54 Ryan Grim, Rikers Island Prisoners Are Being Offered PPE and $6 an Hour to Dig Mass Graves, THE
INTERCEPT (Mar. 31, 2020), https://theintercept.com/2020/03/31/rikers-island-coronavirus-mass-graves/.
55 Coleen Slevin, Colorado Inmates Say State Is Violating Ban on Forced Work, ASSOCIATED PRESS (Feb. 16,
2022); Lora Korpar, Inmates Say Colorado Prison Added Time to Sentences When They Refused Work,
NEWSWEEK (Feb. 16, 2022).
56 Richard Lilgerose and Harold Mortis v. Jared Polis, Dean Williams, and Colorado Dep’t of Corrections,
Compl. filed Feb. 15, 2022, Dist. Ct. Denver Cty. Colorado, https://towardsjustice.org/wp-
content/uploads/2022/02/Amendment-A-litigation-Complaint-Stamped.pdf.
57 Jerry Iannelli, Video Captures Poor Conditions at Louisiana Poultry Plant Where Prisoners Are Sent To Work,
THE APPEAL (May 28, 2020), https://theappeal.org/louisiana-poultry-plant-prison-labor/.
58 Written survey response by [Name withheld to preserve anonymity, at survey respondent’s request],
incarcerated at Decatur Correctional Center, IL (on file with authors).
59 See Stephen Raher, The Company Store: A Deeper Look at Prison Commissaries, Prison Policy Initiative,
(May 2018), https://www.prisonpolicy.org/reports/commissary.html; Lauren-Brooke Eisen, Charging Inmates
Perpetuates Mass Incarceration, Brennan Center for Justice (2005), https://www.brennancenter.org/our-
work/research-reports/charging-inmates-perpetuates-mass-incarceration.
60 Stephen Raher, The Company Store: A Deeper Look at Prison Commissaries, Prison Policy Initiative, (May
2018), https://www.prisonpolicy.org/reports/commissary.html.
61 Ella Baker Center for Human Rights, Who Pays: The True Costs of Incarceration on Families (Sept. 2015),
http://whopaysreport.org/who-pays-full-report/; FWD.us and Cornell University, Every Second: The Impact of
the Incarceration Crisis on America’s Families 10 (Dec. 2018),
https://everysecond.fwd.us/downloads/everysecond.fwd.us.pdf.
62 Peter Wagner and Bernadette Rabuy, Following the Money of Mass Incarceration, Prison Policy Initiative
(Jan. 25, 2017), https://www.prisonpolicy.org/reports/money.html.
63 The American Civil Liberties Union and the Global Human Rights Clinic of the University of Chicago Law
School, Captive Labor: Exploitation of Incarcerated Workers, (June 2022).
64 See Appendix B of Captive Labor, Id., for the wages paid to incarcerated workers in each state and in federal
prisons, and see Appendix C for calculated average and hourly wages paid to incarcerated workers.
65 Maine Department of Corrections, FOIA response document (on file with authors).
66 Connecticut Department of Correction, Administrative Directive: Inmate Assignment and Pay Plan, Directive
10.1 (effective Oct. 22, 2015), https://portal.ct.gov/-/media/DOC/Pdf/Ad/ad1001pdf.pdf.
67 Kansas Department of Corrections, Internal Management Policy & Procedure: Resident Work Assignments,
Policy 10-109A (effective Jan. 21, 2022), https://www.doc.ks.gov/kdoc-policies/AdultIMPP/chapter-10/10-109a-
resident-work-assignments.pdf/view; Kansas Department of Corrections, Internal Management Policy &
Procedure: Programs and Services: Offender Work Assignments, Policy 10-109J at 2 (effective Oct. 13, 2016),
https://www.doc.ks.gov/kdoc-policies/AdultIMPP/chapter-10/10-109j/view.
68 Texas Department of Criminal Justice, Frequently Asked Questions, https://www.tdcj.texas.gov/faq/cid.html
(stating “Inmates are not paid for their work”); Chris Tomlinson, Prison Slave Labor Isn’t Just a Problem in
China. It Happens in Texas, Too, HOUSTON CHRONICLE (Aug. 27, 2021)
https://www.houstonchronicle.com/business/columnists/tomlinson/article/Tomlinson-Prison-slave-labor-persists-
in-Texas-16414140.php; Editorial: Unpaid Prison Labor is Wrong. End it Now, HOUSTON CHRONICLE (Dec. 3,
2020), https://www.houstonchronicle.com/opinion/editorials/article/Editorial-Unpaid-prison-labor-is-wrong-End-
it-15771108.php; Vicky Camarillo, ‘The Penal System Today is Slavery: Lawmakers Finally Start to Talk About
Unpaid Labor in Texas Prisons, TEXAS OBSERVER (May 10, 2019), https://www.texasobserver.org/penal-system-
slavery-unpaid-labor-texas/. An exception to this policy was granted to incarcerated workers tasked with working
in mobile morgues during COVID-19, who were paid $2 an hour after refusing to work unpaid. Alana Rocha,
Incarcerated Texans Enlisted to Work in County Morgue as COVID-19 Deaths Overwhelm El Paso, TEXAS
TRIBUNE (Nov. 15, 2020), https://www.texastribune.org/2020/11/15/coronavirus-texas-el-paso-inmates-morgue-
deaths/.
69 Texas Legislative Budget Board, Fiscal Note, 86th Legislative Regular Session, In Re: HB3720 (Apr. 17, 2019)
https://capitol.texas.gov/tlodocs/86R/fiscalnotes/pdf/HB03720I.pdf#navpanes=0; Vicky Camarillo, ‘The Penal
System Today is Slavery: Lawmakers Finally Start to Talk About Unpaid Labor in Texas Prisons, TEXAS
OBSERVER (May 10, 2019), https://www.texasobserver.org/penal-system-slavery-unpaid-labor-texas/.
70 In South Carolina, incarcerated people working in all institutional jobs, some correctional industries jobs, and
on community labor crews are not paid any wage. As of June 2018, the most recent available data, these unpaid
job assignments constituted more than 90 percent of the state’s 14,786 incarcerated workers. See South Carolina
Department of Corrections, Inmate Pay, § 3 (2014), http://www.doc.sc.gov/policy/ADM-15-13.htm.pdf; South
Carolina Department of Corrections Letter to South Carolina Legislative Oversight Committee, Inmate Work:
Earning and Supervision Details, Policies, and Statutes (May 24, 2019),
https://www.scstatehouse.gov/CommitteeInfo/HouseLegislativeOversightCommittee/AgencyWebpages/Correcti
ons/Statistics%20by%20type%20of%20inmate%20work%20-
%20qualifications,%20number%20working,%20costs,%20etc..pdf.
71 Kate Lisa, Campaign Launched to Raise Pay, Secure Labor Rights for Prisoners, HUDSON VALLEY 360 (Jan.
17, 2022), https://www.hudsonvalley360.com/news/nystate/campaign-launched-to-raise-pay-secure-labor-rights-
for-prisoners/article_46dc9d5a-cbfe-5240-abfd-ddf3d0457da8.html; Joseph Spector, Big Raise? Prison Inmates
Could Get a Major Boost in their Wages in New York, DEMOCRAT & CHRON. (Feb. 7, 2019),
https://www.democratandchronicle.com/story/news/politics/albany/2019/02/07/big-raise-prison-inmates-could-
get-major-boost-minimum-wages-new-york/2799895002/.
72 South Dakota Department of Corrections, Inmate Work Assignments and Pay, Policy 1.5.A.1 (effective Jan. 4,
2019), at 4 (Revision Log),
https://doc.sd.gov/documents/Inmate%20Work%20Assignments%20and%20Pay142019.pdf.
73 Vermont Agency of Human Services, Department of Corrections, Inmate Wage Plan, Policy 394 (effective
May 30, 1988), https://doc.vermont.gov/sites/correct/files/documents/policy/correctional/394-Inmate-Wage-
Plan.pdf.
74 Illinois Department of Corrections, Administrative Directive 05.03.103, Monetary Compensation for
Assignments for Individuals in Custody (July 1, 2021); Illinois Department of Corrections, Administrative
Directive 05.03.103A, Monetary Compensation for Inmate Assignments (May 1, 1992, amended July 1, 2010).
75 Nationally, incarcerated workers employed in the PIECP program earned $10,034,501 in gross wages in the
first quarter of 2021 and $11,689,205 in the second quarter of 2021, of which $5,947,107 and $6,884,581 was
deducted respectively. National Correctional Industry Association (NCIA), Prison Industry Enhancement
Certification Program Certification Program Certification & Cost Accounting Center Listing: Quarterly Report,
Statistics for the Quarter Ending June 30, 2021, (Baltimore, MD: NCIA, Dec. 2, 2021),
https://www.nationalcia.org/statistical-reports, https://4c99dc08-46a7-4bd9-b990-
48103d668bb3.filesusr.com/ugd/569cf7_7722ec64545745f780ef9e63e75e7482.pdf; NCIA, Prison Industry
Enhancement Certification Program Certification Program Certification & Cost Accounting Center Listing:
Quarterly Report, Statistics for the Quarter Ending March 31, 2021, (Baltimore, MD: NCIA, 2021),
https://www.nationalcia.org/statistical-reports, https://df1d6e07-2d3a-49dd-bb43-
170ddf635f64.usrfiles.com/ugd/df1d6e_e0d06d60f81e41cab23b5ec50294401b.pdf.
76 West Virginia Division of Corrections, Policy Directive 111.06, Financial Responsibility Program for Inmates
(Nov. 1, 2014), FOIA response document (on file with authors).
77 Nevada Senate Bill 22, https://www.leg.state.nv.us/App/NELIS/REL//81st2021/Bill/7197/Overview; Nev. Rev.
S. 209.247; Sean Golonka, Inmate Advocates and Family Members Seek to Lower Deductions from Offender
Accounts, NEVADA INDEPENDENT (Mar. 4, 2021), https://thenevadaindependent.com/article/inmate-advocates-
and-family-members-seek-to-lower-deductions-from-offender-accounts; Dana Gentry, Cannizzaro Challenges
Prison Director on Inmate Money Seizures, NEVADA CURRENT (Mar. 4, 2021),
https://www.nevadacurrent.com/blog/cannizzaro-challenges-prison-director-on-inmate-money-seizures/; Michael
Lyle, NDOC Hasn’t Implemented Law Capping Deductions on Inmate Bank Accounts, NEVADA CURRENT (July
12, 2021), https://www.nevadacurrent.com/2021/07/12/ndoc-hasnt-implemented-law-capping-deductions-on-
inmate-bank-accounts/.
78 Id.; NCIA, Prison Industry Enhancement Certification Program Certification Program Certification & Cost
Accounting Center Listing: Quarterly Report, Statistics for the Quarter Ending December 31, 2020, (Baltimore,
MD: NCIA, 2021), https://www.nationalcia.org/statistical-reports, https://df1d6e07-2d3a-49dd-bb43-
170ddf635f64.usrfiles.com/ugd/df1d6e_581cb12b96244d80bf38ed972e18fef6.pdf; NCIA, Prison Industry
Enhancement Certification Program Certification Program Certification & Cost Accounting Center Listing:
Quarterly Report, Statistics for the Quarter Ending September 30, 2020 (Baltimore, MD: NCIA, 2020),
https://www.nationalcia.org/statistical-reports, https://df1d6e07-2d3a-49dd-bb43-
170ddf635f64.usrfiles.com/ugd/df1d6e_e2b3759067374286b6578b24ea6ae87a.pdf.
79 Filiberto Nolasco Gomez, An Update on Prison Labor in Minnesota, WORKDAY MINNESOTA (Jan. 5, 2022),
https://workdayminnesota.org/an-update-on-prison-labor-in-minnesota/.
80 Peter Wagner and Bernadette Rabuy, Following the Money of Mass Incarceration, Prison Policy Initiative
(Jan. 25, 2017), https://www.prisonpolicy.org/reports/money.html.
81 Beth Schwartzapfel, Taking Freedom: Modern-Day Slavery in America’s Prison Workforce, PAC. STANDARD
(May 7, 2018), https://psmag.com/social-justice/taking-freedom-modern-day-slavery.
82 See, e.g., Fla. Stat. § 946.002; Ark. Stat. § 12-30-401; La. Rev. Stat. § 15:870.
83 U.S. Dep’t of Justice, Bureau of Justice Statistics, Justice Expenditures and Employment in the U.S., 2017
(July 2021) at 5-6, https://bjs.ojp.gov/sites/g/files/xyckuh236/files/media/document/jeeus17.pdf; U.S. Dep’t of
Justice, Bureau of Justice Statistics, Prisoners in 2020—Statistical Tables (Dec. 2021) at 7,
https://bjs.ojp.gov/content/pub/pdf/p20st.pdf; Prison Policy Initiative, Mass Incarceration: The Whole Pie 2022,
by Wendy Sawyer and Peter Wagner (Mar. 14, 2022), https://www.prisonpolicy.org/reports/pie2022.html.
84 Estimate calculated by economist Eric Seligman, based on analysis of the wage data from the Bureau of
Justice Statistics 2004 Survey of Prison Inmates and Bureau of Prisons data on state correctional spending,
extrapolating to aggregate numbers of the total prison population. Interview with Eric Seligman, John Jay
College of Criminal Justice, City University of New York (March 28, 2022).
85 Vera Institute of Justice, The Price of Prisons: Examining State Spending Trends, 2010-2015 (May 2017) at 9,
https://www.vera.org/downloads/publications/the-price-of-prisons-2015-state-spending-trends.pdf. See also John
Pfaff, The Incalculable Costs of Mass Incarceration, THE APPEAL (Sept. 20, 2018), https://theappeal.org/the-
incalculable-costs-of-mass-incarceration/; Prison Policy Initiative, Following the Money of Mass Incarceration
(Feb. 25, 2017), https://www.prisonpolicy.org/reports/money.html.
86 U.S. Dep’t of Justice, Bureau of Justice Statistics, Justice Expenditures and Employment in the U.S., 2017
(July 2021) at 8, https://bjs.ojp.gov/sites/g/files/xyckuh236/files/media/document/jeeus17.pdf.
87 Id.
88 Asatar Bair, An Economic Analysis of Prison Labor in the U.S., PhD diss., University of Massachusetts
Amherst (2004) at 194.
89 Alaska’s legislature repealed the state’s prison industries program in 2005.
90 See, e.g., Illinois Department of Corrections, ICI Criteria for Inmate Assignment by Function, FOIA response
document (on file with authors); Michigan Department of Corrections, Appendix D – Available Work
Assignments – Michigan State Industries (MSI), FOIA response document (on file with authors).
91 See UNICOR, Product Lines, https://www.unicor.gov/publications/corporate/CATMC4505_C.pdf.
92 See generally, National Correctional Industries Association, Online Buyers’ Guide,
https://my.nationalcia.org/buyers-guide?reload=timezone
93 See, e.g., Wis. Stat. § 303.01 Va. Code Ann. § 53.1-59; see also Ill. Comp. Stat. 5/3-12-7 (2010). See also
Illinois Correctional Industries, FAQ: Frequently Asked Questions (2015)
http://www.icicatalog.illinois.gov/documents/faq.pdf).
94 Otak, Coffee Creek Correctional Facility (2020), https://www.otak.com/about/projects/coffee-creek-
correctional-facility/; Todd Clear, Michael Riesig, & George Cole, American Corrections (Boston: Cengage
Learning, 2019).
95 According to the National Correctional Industries Association (NCIA), the value of saleable goods and
services produced by incarcerated workers in prison industries programs nationwide totaled $2,089,022,613 in
2021. Telephone interview with Wil Heslop, interim executive director, NCIA, Nov. 18, 2021, citing 2021 NCIA
Directory.
96 U.S. Dep’t of Justice, Federal Bureau of Prisons, Federal Prison Industries, Inc. (UNICOR), Fiscal Year 2021
Annual Management Report (Nov. 12, 2021),
https://www.unicor.gov/publications/reports/FY2021_AnnualMgmtReport.pdf. See also UNICOR, FY 2021 FPI
Sales by 4-Digit FSC Code and Customer (2021),
https://www.unicor.gov/publications/reports/FY21AnnualSalesReport.pdf (reporting that net sales totaled nearly
$543 million).
97 Arkansas Division of Correction, Annual Report: Fiscal Year 2020 (Mar. 2021), at 38,
https://doc.arkansas.gov/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/Division-of-Correction-FY20-Annual-Report-Board-of-
Corrections-Approved-March-19-2021.pdf; Arkansas Division of Correction, Inmate Handbook (Mar. 2020) at
6, https://doc.arkansas.gov/wp-
content/uploads/2020/09/Inmate_Handbook_Updated_March_2020_Final_02_28_2020_pdf.pdf.
98 Ben Conark, Work Forced: A Century Later, Unpaid Prison Labor Continues to Power Florida, FLORIDA
TIMES-UNION (May 26, 2019), https://stories.usatodaynetwork.com/workforced/.
99 Georgia Department of Corrections (GDC), County Prisons,
http://dcor.state.ga.us/Divisions/Facilities/CountyPrisons (stating “Some low-security, long-term state prisoners
are incarcerated at county work camps. They provide unpaid, yet highly-skilled work to the counties in which
they are housed…. GDC offenders assist in the maintenance of roads and parks; work at local landfills; serve on
local fire crews; assist with small construction projects for government agencies, and assist local government
agencies as needed.”); Georgia Department of Corrections, Reentry & Cognitive Programming,
http://www.dcor.state.ga.us/Divisions/Facilities/Transitional (stating “The maintenance residents are assigned
full-time to maintain the facility or other state facilities in the area. For example, approximately half of the
residents assigned to the Atlanta Transitional Center are maintenance workers who provide details to the
Governor’s Mansion, the State Capitol Complex, and the State Highway Patrol Headquarters. These residents are
not paid any wages.”); Adrian Drepaul, I Had a Shitty Job in Prison, MARSHALL PROJECT (Aug. 8, 2019),
https://www.themarshallproject.org/2019/08/08/i-had-a-shitty-job-in-prison; Grady Capstone Journalist, Use of
Unpaid Inmate Labor Scrutinized in Athens-Clarke County, GRADY NEWSOURCE (Apr. 5, 2019),
https://gradynewsource.uga.edu/use-of-unpaid-inmate-labor-scrutinized-in-athens-clarke-county/.
100 Mississippi Department of Corrections, Inmate Work Crews,
https://www.mdoc.ms.gov/Institutions/Pages/Inmate-Work-Crews.aspx.
101 South Carolina Department of Corrections (SCDC), SCDC Policy, Admin-15.13; Inmate Pay, § 3 (2014),
http://www.doc.sc.gov/policy/ADM-15-13.htm.pdf; S.C. Code Ann. § 24-3-40; SCDC letter to South Carolina
Legislative Oversight Committee, Inmate Work: Earning and Supervision Details, Policies, and Statutes (May
24, 2019),
https://www.scstatehouse.gov/CommitteeInfo/HouseLegislativeOversightCommittee/AgencyWebpages/Correcti
ons/Statistics%20by%20type%20of%20inmate%20work%20-
%20qualifications,%20number%20working,%20costs,%20etc..pdf.
102 Texas Department of Criminal Justice, Administrative Directive: Use of Offender Labor for Community Work
Projects, AD-007.11 (rev. 4, Oct. 26, 2015, https://www.tdcj.texas.gov/documents/policy/AD0711.pdf; Texas
Department of Criminal Justice, Community and Public Work Project (Aug. 17, 2015),
https://www.tdcj.texas.gov/TDCJ_community_work.html.
103 These states are Alabama, Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas, California, Connecticut, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii,
Idaho, Indiana, Illinois, Iowa, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota,
Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Oklahoma,
Oregon, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Vermont, Virginia, Washington, West
Virginia, Wisconsin, and Wyoming.
104 U.S. Dep’t of Justice, Bureau of Justice Statistics, Census of State and Federal Adult Correctional Facilities,
2019 – Statistical Tables (Nov. 2021) at 3, 13, https://bjs.ojp.gov/content/pub/pdf/csfacf19st.pdf. In 2005, the last
year for which such data was made public, over half of these prisons were located in the South. Of 798
correctional facilities with public works programs in 2005, 447 were located in the South, 98 in the Northeast,
133 in the Midwest, and 120 in the West. U.S. Dep’t of Justice, Bureau of Justice Statistics, Census of State and
Federal Correctional Facilities, 2005 (Oct. 2008) at Appendix Table 16,
https://bjs.ojp.gov/content/pub/pdf/csfcf05.pdf.
105 Ben Conark, Work Forced: A Century Later, Unpaid Prison Labor Continues to Power Florida, FLORIDA
TIMES-UNION (May 26, 2019), https://stories.usatodaynetwork.com/workforced/.
106 North Carolina Department of Public Safety, Fiscal Year 2019-2020 Annual Statistical Report (2020) at 16-
17, https://files.nc.gov/ncdps/FY-2019-20-Annual-Statistical-Report.pdf.
107 Arizona Department of Corrections Rehabilitation and Reentry, Corrections at a Glance, February 2022
(Mar. 8, 2022), https://corrections.az.gov/sites/default/files/REPORTS/CAG/2022/cagfeb-22.pdf.
108 Total hours logged by incarcerated workers on community labor through their work on fire crews, public
sector work crews, and Arizona Department of Transportation work crews was 1,829,348 in FY 2020. Arizona
Department of Corrections, Corrections at a Glance, June 2020
https://corrections.az.gov/sites/default/files/REPORTS/CAG/2020/cagjune-20.pdf.
109 Washington State Department of Corrections (WDOC), Participation by Program Summary (2020),
https://www.doc.wa.gov/docs/publications/reports/700-SR002-second-quarter.pdf; WDOC, Class IV Off-Site
Work Crew, Policy Document 700.400 (2019), https://www.doc.wa.gov/information/policies/files/700400.pdf.
110 Mississippi Department of Corrections, Inmate Work Crews,
https://www.mdoc.ms.gov/Institutions/Pages/Inmate-Work-Crews.aspx.
111 Arkansas Division of Correction, Annual Report Fiscal Year 2020 (2021) at 21, https://doc.arkansas.gov/wp-
content/uploads/2021/03/Division-of-Correction-FY20-Annual-Report-Board-of-Corrections-Approved-March-
19-2021.pdf.
112 J. Carlee Purdum and Michelle Meyer, Prisoner Labor Throughout the Life Cycle of Disasters, RISK,
HAZARDS & CRISIS IN PUBLIC POLICY (May 12, 2020).
113 Jessica Lipscomb, Unpaid Florida Prisoners Being Used to Clean Up After Hurricane Irma, MIAMI NEW
TIMES (Sept. 28, 2017) https://www.miaminewtimes.com/news/unpaid-florida-prison-inmates-being-used-on-
hurricane-irma-cleanup-labor-crews-9701867; Polly Mosendz, When Do You Move Prisoners Out of a Storm’s
Path?, BLOOMBERG (Sept. 8, 2017), https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2017-09-08/when-do-you-move-
prisoners-out-of-a-hurricane-s-path.
114 Georgia Department of Corrections, Fire Services and Life Safety,
http://www.dcor.state.ga.us/Divisions/Facilities/FireServices; Georgia Department of Corrections, Fiscal Year
2020 Report at 60,
http://www.dcor.state.ga.us/sites/default/files/sites/all/gdc/files/pdf/Research/Monthly/GDC%20FY2020%20An
nual%20Report.pdf; Georgia Department of Corrections, 2017 Fiscal Year Report at 24,
http://www.dcor.state.ga.us/sites/default/files/sites/all/gdc/files/pdf/Research/Monthly/GDC%20FY2017%20An
nual%20Report.pdf; Erin Paige McGonigle, First Responders, Second Priority: Georgia’s Inmate Firefighter
Program and International Human Rights Standards, 48 GEORGIA J. INTL. & COMP. L. 189 (Apr. 11, 2021),
https://digitalcommons.law.uga.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=2471&context=gjicl.
115 Id.
116 Id.
117 J. Carlee Purdum and Michelle Meyer, Prisoner Labor Throughout the Life Cycle of Disasters, RISK,
HAZARDS & CRISIS IN PUBLIC POLICY (May 12, 2020).
118 Id.
119 Arizona Department of Corrections Rehabilitation and Reentry, Corrections at a Glance, February 2022
(Mar. 8, 2022), https://corrections.az.gov/sites/default/files/REPORTS/CAG/2022/cagfeb-22.pdf; Arizona
Correctional Industries, Achieving Balance: 2020 Annual Report (2021) at 21,
https://aci.az.gov/sites/default/files/ACI_AR_2020.pdf.
120 Pioneer Institute, Arizona Correctional Industries Partnering with Private Sector Companies, (July 19, 2011),
http://bgc.pioneerinstitute.org/arizona-correctional-industries-partnering-with-private-sector-companies/.
121 Arizona Correctional Industries, Achieving Balance: 2020 Annual Report (2021) at 21,
https://aci.az.gov/sites/default/files/ACI_AR_2020.pdf; Arizona Auditor General, Arizona Department of
Corrections, Rehabilitation and Reentry, Capital Projects Funding and Department Finances, Performance
Audit (Oct. 2020) at 20-21, https://www.azauditor.gov/sites/default/files/20-109_Report.pdf.
122 Id.
123 As of the second quarter of 2021 ending on June 30, 2021, 4,738 incarcerated workers were employed
through PIECP. See, National Correctional Industries Association, Prison Industry Enhancement Certification
Program (PIECP) Certification & Cost Accounting Center Listing: Q2 2021 Certification Listing Report (Dec.
2, 2021), https://www.nationalcia.org/statistical-reports, https://4c99dc08-46a7-4bd9-b990-
48103d668bb3.filesusr.com/ugd/569cf7_ef27cb77182443a69a2de109c9175110.pdf.
124 See Bureau of Justice Assistance, Prison Industry Enhancement Certification Program Brief (2002).
125 Julie Goodridge et al., Prison Labor in the U.S.: An Investor Perspective, N. STAR ASSET MGMT. 22 (2018),
https://missioninvestors.org/sites/default/files/resources/Prison%20Labor%20in%20the%20United%20States%2
0-%20An%20Investor%20Perspective.pdf; NCIA, PIECP, Prison Labor, Prison Industries Violations, PIECP
Program Violations, http://prison-labor.50megs.com/rich_text_1.html.
126 Bob Sloan, The Prison Industries Enhancement Certification Program: Why Everyone Should be Concerned,
PRISON LEGAL NEWS (Mar. 5, 2010), https://www.prisonlegalnews.org/news/2010/mar/15/the-prison-industries-
enhancement-certification-program-why-everyone-should-be-concerned/.
127 Id.
128 National Correctional Industries Association (NCIA), Our Leadership, https://www.nationalcia.org/our-
leadership.
129 Colorado Department of Corrections, Private Sector Customers, FOIA response document (on file with
authors); Colorado Correctional Industries, Annual Report 2020 (July 2020) at 4,
https://www.coloradoci.com/bin-pdf/annualReport/07_2020_annrep.pdf; Colorado Correctional Industries,
Partner Companies, https://www.coloradoci.com/bin-pdf/partnerCompanies.pdf.
130 Utah Department of Corrections (UCI), UCI Public Customer Suppliers, FOIA response document (on file
with authors) (also listing customers).
131 H. Claire Brown, How Corporations Buy—and Sell—Food Made With Prison Labor, THE COUNTER (May 18,
2021), https://thecounter.org/how-corporations-buy-and-sell-food-made-with-prison-labor/; Colorado
Department of Corrections, Private Sector Customers, FOIA response document (on file with authors).
132 H. Claire Brown, How Corporations Buy—and Sell—Food Made With Prison Labor, THE COUNTER (May 18,
2021), https://thecounter.org/how-corporations-buy-and-sell-food-made-with-prison-labor/.
133 Id.; Michael Sainato, Corporations Are Making Millions of Dollars from US Prison Labor, REAL NEWS (Jan.
5, 2022), https://therealnews.com/corporations-are-making-millions-of-dollars-from-us-prison-labor.
134 Id.
135 See, e.g., Andrea Armstrong, Slavery Revisited in Penal Plantation Labor, 35 SEATTLE U. L. REV. 835 (2012);
Georgia Department of Corrections, Food & Farm Services Fact Sheet (Jan. 2015),
http://www.dcor.state.ga.us/sites/all/files/pdf/Research/Fact_Sheets/Info_Sheets_Food_Services.pdf; Tatum
Isaacs, Farmers Behind Bars: A Critical Analysis of Prison Farm Labor in Kentucky and Beyond, KENTUCKY J.
OF EQUINE, AGRICULTURE & NATURAL RESOURCES L. (2017),
https://uknowledge.uky.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1177&context=kjeanrl; Rob Goyanes, The Secret
History of Florida Prison Labor, NEW TROPIC (Jan. 4, 2016), https://thenewtropic.com/prison-labor-florida/;
Hannah O. Brown, Becca Burton, and Lyndsey Gilpin, How Incarcerated People Powered the University of
Florida’s Agricultural Research Program, SOUTHERLY, https://southerlymag.org/powered-by-prisons/.
136 International Independent Expert Mechanism to Advance Racial Justice and Equality in the Context of Law
Enforcement, Report to the United Nations Human Rights Council, Visit to the United States of America, paras.
110-114, 156, (Sept. 26, 2023), https://www.ohchr.org/en/documents/country-reports/ahrc54crp7-international-
independent-expert-mechanism-advance-racial.
137 U.S. CONST. amend. XIII (“Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, except as a punishment for crime
whereof the party shall have been duly convicted, shall exist within the U.S., or any place subject to their
jurisdiction”).
138 Genevieve LeBaron, Rethinking Prison Labor: Social Discipline and the State in Historical Perspective, 15 J.
OF LAB. AND SOC’Y 327, 333 (2012).
139 Id. at 334-35.
140 Id. at 335.
141 Id. at 334.
142 Id. at 327.
143 Id. at 338; Christopher R. Adamson, Punishment after Slavery: Southern State Penal Systems, 1865-1890, 30
SOC. PROBS. 555, 556 (1983).
144 MATTHEW MANCINI, ONE DIES, GET ANOTHER: CONVICT LEASING IN THE AMERICAN SOUTH, 1866-1928
(Columbia, SC: University of South Carolina Press, 1996); Andrea Armstrong, Slavery Revisited in Penal
Plantation Labor, 35 SEATTLE U. L. REV. 835, 877 (2012).
145 DOUGLAS A. BLACKMON, SLAVERY BY ANOTHER NAME 8, 56, 67 (New York: Anchor Books, 2008);
Genevieve LeBaron, Rethinking Prison Labor: Social Discipline and the State in Historical Perspective, 15 J. OF
LAB. AND SOC’Y 327, 337 (2012).
146 Id. at 339.
147 Heather Ann Thompson, Rethinking Working-Class Struggle through the Lens of the Carceral State: Toward a
Labor History of Inmates and Guards, 8 LAB.: STUD. IN WORKING-CLASS HIST. 15, 16 (2011); DAVID M.
OSHINSKY, WORSE THAN SLAVERY: PARCHMAN FARM AND THE ORDEAL OF JIM CROW JUSTICE (New York, Free
Press, 1997).
148 Stephen P. Garvey, Freeing Prisoners’ Labor, 50 STAN. L. REV. 339, 361-62 (1998).
149 Id.
150 Id.
151 Three Prisons Act, ch. 529, sec. 2, 26 Stat. 839 (1891).
152 ALEX LICHTENSTEIN, TWICE THE WORK OF FREE LABOR: THE POLITICAL ECONOMY OF CONVICT LABOR IN
THE NEW SOUTH (New York: Verso, 1996).
153 MITCHEL P. ROTH, PRISONS AND PRISON SYSTEMS: A GLOBAL ENCYCLOPEDIA (Westport, CT: Greenwood
Press, 2006).
154 Stanley E. Grupp, Work Release in the U.S., 54 J. CRIM. L. AND CRIMINOLOGY 267 (1963).
155 Id.
156 Id.
157 Id.
158 Act of May 14, 1930, ch. 274 § 3, 46 Stat. 325 (1930).
159 Heather Ann Thompson, Rethinking Working-Class Struggle through the Lens of the Carceral State: Toward a
Labor History of Inmates and Guards, 8 LAB.: STUD. IN WORKING-CLASS HIST. 15, 20 (2011).
160 U.S. Dep’t of Justice, Bureau of Justice Statistics, Census of State and Federal Adult Correctional Facilities,
2019 – Statistical Tables (Nov. 2021) at 13, https://bjs.ojp.gov/content/pub/pdf/csfacf19st.pdf.
161 See, e.g., Andrea Armstrong, Slavery Revisited in Penal Plantation Labor, 35 SEATTLE U. L. REV. 835 (2012);
Georgia Department of Corrections, Food & Farm Services Fact Sheet (Jan. 2015),
http://www.dcor.state.ga.us/sites/all/files/pdf/Research/Fact_Sheets/Info_Sheets_Food_Services.pdf; Tatum
Isaacs, Farmers Behind Bars: A Critical Analysis of Prison Farm Labor in Kentucky and Beyond, KENTUCKY J.
OF EQUINE, AGRICULTURE & NATURAL RESOURCES L. (2017),
https://uknowledge.uky.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1177&context=kjeanrl; Rob Goyanes, The Secret
History of Florida Prison Labor, NEW TROPIC (Jan. 4, 2016), https://thenewtropic.com/prison-labor-florida/;
Hannah O. Brown, Becca Burton, and Lyndsey Gilpin, How Incarcerated People Powered the University of
Florida’s Agricultural Research Program, SOUTHERLY, https://southerlymag.org/powered-by-prisons/.
162 See, e.g., Andrea Kelley, Arabella Saunders, and Marin Wolf, From Plantation to Prison: How Oppression
Led to High Rates of Disease, Death for Black North Carolinians, NORTH CAROLINA HEALTH NEWS (Feb. 23,
2021), https://www.northcarolinahealthnews.org/2021/02/23/from-plantation-to-prison-how-oppression-led-to-
high-rates-of-disease-death-for-black-north-carolinians/.
163 Andrea Armstrong, Slavery Revisited in Penal Plantation Labor, 35 SEATTLE U. L. REV. 835, 874 (2012); La.
Admin Code Tit.22, §331(10).
164 Louisiana Department of Corrections, Demographic Dashboard, Facility Breakout: LSP (Dec. 31, 2021),
https://doc.louisiana.gov/demographic-dashboard/.
165 Interview with Andrea Armstrong, Loyola University New Orleans, College of Law Professor, in New
Orleans, LA (Nov. 6, 2019) (on file with authors) (interview concerning issues reported to Professor Armstrong
by incarcerated people).
166 Arkansas Division of Correction, Annual Report, Fiscal Year 2019 (2020) at 42, https://doc.arkansas.gov/wp-
content/uploads/2020/09/Division_of_Correction_FY19_Annual_Report_BOC_Approval-5272020.pdf;
Arkansas Department of Corrections, An Overview of Arkansas Department of Correction’s Agriculture Division
& Explanation of Selected Audit Findings, Oct. 20, 2016, https://doc.arkansas.gov/wp-
content/uploads/2020/09/Agriculture_Division_Overview_for_102016.pdf; Riley Kovalcheck, The Modern
Plantation: The Continuities of Convict-Leasing and an Analysis of Arkansas Prison Systems, 7 CLA J. 96
(2019); Jeannie Roberts, Prison Farms: A Growing Concern for Some Critics, ARKANSAS DEMOCRAT GAZETTE,
Feb. 16, 2016.
167 See, e.g., Lamar Moore, Arkansas Prisons’ Unpaid Labor Program is Criminal, PRISON JOURNALISM
PROJECT (Feb. 22, 2022), https://prisonjournalismproject.org/2022/02/22/arkansas-prisons-unpaid-labor-
program-is-criminal/; Happy Stompingbear, Hoe Squad: The Work That We Do, PRISON JOURNALISM PROJECT
(Oct. 11, 2020), https://prisonjournalismproject.org/2020/10/11/hoe-squad-the-work-that-we-do/; Molly Minta,
Incarcerated, Infected and Ignored: Inside the Cummins Prison Outbreak, ARKANSAS TIMES (June 18, 2020),
https://arktimes.com/arkansas-blog/2020/06/18/incarcerated-infected-and-ignored-inside-the-cummins-prison-
outbreak; Rachel Aviv, Punishment by Pandemic, NEW YORKER (June 15, 2020),
https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2020/06/22/punishment-by-pandemic.
168 Arkansas Department of Corrections, Cummins Unit, https://doc.arkansas.gov/facilities/cummins-unit/;
Arkansas Department of Corrections, An Overview of Arkansas Department of Correction’s Agriculture Division
& Explanation of Selected Audit Findings, Oct. 20, 2016, https://doc.arkansas.gov/wp-
content/uploads/2020/09/Agriculture_Division_Overview_for_102016.pdf; Jeannie Roberts, Prison Farms: A
Growing Concern for Some Critics, ARKANSAS DEMOCRAT GAZETTE, Feb. 16, 2016.
Arkansas Department of Corrections, Cummins Unit, https://doc.arkansas.gov/facilities/cummins-unit/; Arkansas
Department of Corrections, An Overview of Arkansas Department of Correction’s Agriculture Division &
Explanation of Selected Audit Findings, Oct. 20, 2016, https://doc.arkansas.gov/wp-
content/uploads/2020/09/Agriculture_Division_Overview_for_102016.pdf; Jeannie Roberts, Prison Farms: A
Growing Concern for Some Critics, ARKANSAS DEMOCRAT GAZETTE, Feb. 16, 2016.
169 Jobe et al. v. Urquart, 98 Ark. 525, 136 S.W. 663 (1911).
170 DAVID M. OSHINSKY, WORSE THAN SLAVERY: PARCHMAN FARM AND THE ORDEAL OF JIM CROW JUSTICE
(New York: Free Press, 1997) at 110; Innocence Project, The Lasting Legacy of Parchman Farm, the Prison
Modeled After a Slave Plantation (May 29, 2020), https://innocenceproject.org/parchman-farm-prison-
mississippi-history/.
171 Mississippi Department of Corrections, Monthly Fact Sheet (Jan. 3, 2022), https://www.mdoc.ms.gov/Admin-
Finance/MonthlyFacts/2022-Fact%20Sheet%201-3-22.1%20(updated).pdf.
172 North Carolina Department of Public Safety, Roanoke River Correctional Institution,
https://www.ncdps.gov/adult-corrections/prisons/prison-facilities/caledonia-correctional-institution; North
Carolina Department of Public Safety, North Carolina Prison Inmates at Work,
https://www.doc.state.nc.us/work/workover.htm.
173 Andrea Kelley, Arabella Saunders, and Marin Wolf, From Plantation to Prison: How Oppression Led to High
Rates of Disease, Death for Black North Carolinians, NORTH CAROLINA HEALTH NEWS (Feb. 23, 2021),
https://www.northcarolinahealthnews.org/2021/02/23/from-plantation-to-prison-how-oppression-led-to-high-
rates-of-disease-death-for-black-north-carolinians/.
174 Solitary Watch, ACLU of Louisiana, and the Jesuit Social Research Institute/Loyola University New Orleans,
Louisiana on Lockdown, SOLITARY WATCH (Jun. 2019) at 67, https://solitarywatch.org/wp-
content/uploads/2019/06/Louisiana-on-Lockdown-Report-June-2019.pdf.
175 Id. at 12.
176 Interview with Montrell Carmouche, director of Operation Restoration’s Safety and Freedom Fund, New
Orleans, LA (Nov. 8, 2019) (on file with authors).
177 Interview with Kaleem Nazeem, board member, DecARcerate, Jonesboro, Arkansas (June 12, 2022).
178 Michael Gibson-Light, The Prison as a Market: How Penal Labor Systems Reproduce Inequality, PhD diss.,
University of Arizona at 128 (2019) (on file with authors).
179 Id. at 138.
180 Courtney A. Crittenden, Barbara A. Koons-Witt and Robert J. Kaminski, Being Assigned Work in Prison: Do
Gender and Race Matter?, FEMINIST CRIMINOLOGY 1-23 (Sept. 2016),
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/308104933_Being_Assigned_Work_in_Prison_Do_Gender_and_Race
_Matter.
181 Id.
182 Id.
183 Interview with Dolfinette Martin, housing director, Operation Restoration, in New Orleans, LA (Nov. 8, 2019)
(on file with authors).
184 Id.
185 Written survey response by Ronni Curry, incarcerated at Centralia Correctional Center, IL (on file with
authors).
186 Written survey response by Jesus Duran, incarcerated at Centralia Correctional Center, IL (on file with
authors).
187 Written survey response by [Name withheld to preserve anonymity, at survey respondent’s request],
incarcerated at Western Illinois Correctional Center, IL (on file with authors).
188 See Jackson Taylor Kirklin, Title VII Protections for Inmates: A Model Approach for Safeguarding Civil
Rights in America’s Prisons, 111 Colum. L. Rev. 1048,1061-1063 (2011).
189 See id. at 1068-1079.
190 The vast majority of incarcerated workers labor within correctional institutions operated by state and local
governments, which are not considered “employers” under OSHA. See 29 U.S.C. § 652(5)-(6) (“(5) The term
“employer” means a person engaged in a business affecting commerce who has employees, but does not include
the U.S. (not including the U.S. Postal Service) or any State or political subdivision of a State. (6) The term
“employee” means an employee of an employer who is employed in a business of his employer which affects
commerce.”). See also U.S Department of Labor, OSHA, Standard Interpretations, Clarification on whether an
employer with multiple facilities needs a separate written ECP for each facility, 1910.1030; 1960 (2011),
https://www.osha.gov/laws-regs/standardinterpretations/2011-12-13 (“Federal OSHA does not cover state or
local government-operated prisons.”). See also OSHA, Standard Interpretations, OSHA Does Not Have
Jurisdiction Over State Employees or Inmates, 1975.5 (1992), https://www.osha.gov/laws-
regs/standardinterpretations/1992-12-16-1 (“The definition of an ‘employer’ under Section 3(5) of the
Occupational Safety and Health Act specifically excludes a State or any political subdivision of a State from
coverage under the OSHA Act. Therefore, OSHA does not have jurisdiction over the State of Colorado or its
employees, including inmates in correctional institutions, either paid or nonpaid.”). However, according to an
OSHA instruction from 1995, “when inmates are required to perform work similar to that outside of prisons, e.g.,
farming, industries, machine operations, etc., the applicable protections open to anyone else in similar situations
should apply, including the right to file a report of hazards with appropriate safety and health officials.” See
OSHA, Directives, Federal Agency Safety and Health Programs With the Bureau of Prisons, U.S. Department of
Justice, Directive No.: FAP 01-00-002 (1995), https://www.osha.gov/enforcement/directives/fap-01-00-002.
191 For example, Arizona Revised Statutes provide that in the employ of the state, the term “employment” does
not apply to services performed by “inmate[s] of a custodial or penal institution.” See Ariz. Rev. Stat. Ann. § 23-
615 (B)(6). The Michigan Supreme Court and Court of Appeals have held that there is no employer/employee
relationship between incarcerated individuals and the state since the relationship is custodial and rehabilitative.
See, Thompson v. Bronk, 126 Mich 455, 456-457; 85 NW 1084 (1901); Cadeau v. Boys’ Vocational School, 359
Mich 598, 608-609; 103 NW2d 443 (1960); Green v. Department of Corrections, 30 Mich App 648; 186 NW2d
792; aff’d 386 Mich 459; 192 NW2d 491 (1971); Prisoners’ Labor Union at Marquette v. Department of
Corrections, 61 Mich App 328; 336; 232 NW2d 699; lv den 394 Mich 843 (1975). New York state’s Department
of Labor Public Employee Safety and Health Field Operations Manual excludes incarcerated people from the
definition of public employees, even though the Consolidated Laws of New York do not explicitly exclude them
from the definition of employee. New York Department of Labor, Public Employee Safety and Health Field
Operations Manual (2021), https://dol.ny.gov/system/files/documents/2021/04/peshfom.pdf; N.Y. Lab. Law §
27-a (McKinney). Virginia Occupational Safety & Health (VOSH) interpret the exclusion of incarcerated
individuals as employees under the Virginia Minimum Wage Act, § 40.1-28.9 to extend to VOSH. However, it
considers VOSH to be responsible for prisoners employed by a public employer in a work-release program.
Virginia Department of Labor and Industry, Occupational Safety and Health Program, Administrative
Regulations Manual (Sep. 21, 2006), https://www.vaasphalt.org/wp-
content/uploads/2012/10/DOLI_Admin_Regs_Manual_hitching_ride_on_paver_issue.pdf. In California, unlike
other states, Cal/OSHA may make recommendations to the Department of Corrections to improve the safety of
the working conditions and work areas of state prisoners. Cal/OSHA may also conduct hearings and adopts
special orders, rules, or regulations if the Department of Corrections fails to comply with recommendations. Cal.
Code Regs. tit. 8, § 344.46.
192 In the case of the Fair Labor Standards Act, there has been no specific guidance from Congress or the
Supreme Court as to whether the language is meant to exclude incarcerated workers from its protections.
However, most appellate courts have ruled that prison workers are excluded from the definition of “employee” in
that Act, thereby excluding them from protection. Lang MJ, The Search for a Workable Standard for When Fair
Labor Standards Act Coverage Should be Extended to Prisoner Workers, 5 U. Pa. J. Bus. L. 19 (2002); Renee
Elaine Henson, Picking Cotton for Pennies: An Exploration into the Law’s Modern Endorsement of a Free-
Prison Workforce, 2 BUS. ENTREPRENEURSHIP & TAX L. REV. 193, 200–01 (2018). See also Jackson Taylor
Kirklin, Title VII Protections for Inmates: A Model Approach for Safeguarding Civil Rights in America’s Prisons,
111 Colum. L. Rev. 1048,1048–1089 (2011); Andre Montoya-Barthelemy, Letter to the Editor, The Occupational
Health of Prison Inmates: An Ignored Population and an Opportunity, 61 J. of Occupational Envtl. Med. e74
(2019). In the case of the National Labor Relations Act, which protects the right of workers to engage in
collective bargaining, there has also been little Congressional or Supreme Court guidance as to whether its
protections include incarcerated workers. Given that the protections only apply to those who meet the specific
legal definition of an “employee,” some lower courts have recognized incarcerated workers employed in private
companies through work release as eligible for the NLRA’s protections. However, the vast majority of
incarcerated workers who labor within prisons and jails are currently not covered given that federal and state
governments, when acting as employers, are excluded from the NLRA. Kara Goad, Columbia University and
Incarcerated Worker Labor Unions under the National Labor Relations Act, 103 Cornell L. Rev. 177 (2017).
193 Farmer v. Brennan, 511 U.S. 825, 832 (1994) (internal quotation marks and citations omitted).
194 See, e.g., Kulkay v. Roy, 847 F.3d 637, 643–645 (8th Cir. 2017).
195 Bratchett v. Braxton Envtl. Servs. Corp., 564 F. App’x 229, 232 (7th Cir. 2014).
196 Human Rights Watch, No Equal Justice: The Prison Litigation Reform Act in the U.S. (June 16, 2009),
https://www.hrw.org/report/2009/06/16/no-equal-justice/prison-litigation-reform-act-united-states.
197 42 U.S.C. 1997(e); See also Summary, Prison Litigation Reform Act of 1995, S. 866, 104th Cong. (1995);
Human Rights Watch, No Equal Justice: The Prison Litigation Reform Act in the U.S. (June 16, 2009),
https://www.hrw.org/report/2009/06/16/no-equal-justice/prison-litigation-reform-act-united-states.
198 See e.g., Uptown People’s Law Center, Inmate Grievance Procedure Guide,
https://www.ilnd.uscourts.gov/_assets/_documents/_forms/_paveyhearing/IDOC%20Grievance%20Proc.%20su
mmary.pdf.
199 Georgia Department of Corrections, Standard Operating Procedures, Georgia Statewide Grievance
Procedure, Policy 227.02. See also, e.g., Woodford v. Ngo, 548 U.S. 81, 118 (2006) (Stevens, J., dissenting)
(noting that grievance filing deadlines “are generally no more than 15 days, and … in nine States, are between 2
and 5 days”).
200 Cal. Code Regs. tit. 15, § 3482(b); Prison Law Office, How to File a CDCR Administrative Grievance and
Appeal (revised June 2020), https://prisonlaw.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/AdminAppeals-June-2020.pdf.
This timeline does not apply to those alleging sexial abuse. See Cal. Code Regs. tit. 15, § 3084(c)(1) (no time
limit for filing grievance about staff sexual abuse) and Cal. Code Regs. tit. 15, § 3084 (d)(1) (no time limit for
filing grievance about sexual abuse by another incarcerated person.).
201 Shannon Heffernan, From Roaches To Medical Emergencies, Illinois Inmates Say ‘There’s Nobody That We
Can Really Go To For Help’, WBEZ, NPR (Dec. 2, 2020), https://www.wbez.org/stories/from-roaches-to-
medical-emergencies-illinois-inmates-say-theres-nobody-that-we-can-really-go-to-for-help/160ef42c-e728-4e5d-
990b-f584242205df.
202 Cal. Code Regs. tit. 15, § 3487(a)(1).
203 Cyrus Dunham, “A Living Hell” Dispatches From a California Prison Amid the Climate and Coronavirus
Crises, THE INTERCEPT (Nov. 22, 2020), https://theintercept.com/2020/11/22/california-women-prison-heat-
climate-covid/.
204 Shannon Heffernan, From Roaches To Medical Emergencies, Illinois Inmates Say ‘There’s Nobody That We
Can Really Go To For Help’, WBEZ NPR (Dec. 2, 2020), https://www.wbez.org/stories/from-roaches-to-
medical-emergencies-illinois-inmates-say-theres-nobody-that-we-can-really-go-to-for-help/160ef42c-e728-4e5d-
990b-f584242205df.
205 Id.
206 Id.
207 Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Correction, Evaluation of the Inmate Grievance System, by Vincent
M. Nathan, at 25 (Feb. 13, 2001).
208 James E. Robertson, “One of the Dirty Secrets of American Corrections”: Retaliation, Surplus Power, and
Whistleblowing Inmates, 42 U. MICH. J.L. REFORM 611 (2009).
209 Interview with Blanca Ruiz-Thompson, program director, Reentry Relief Project, California (Jun. 16, 2020)
(on file with authors)
210 ACLU, Know Your Rights, The Prison Litigation Reform Act (PLRA),
https://www.aclu.org/sites/default/files/images/asset_upload_file79_25805.pdf. The only exception to this rule is
if the incarcerated person is at risk of suffering serious and imminent physical injury. The imminence is
evaluated at the time the prisoner attempts to file the new lawsuit, not at the time that the incident that gave rise
to the lawsuit occurred. See Abdul-Akbar v. McKelvie, 239 F.3d 307 (3d Cir. 2001) (en banc).
211 Vidlak v. Cox, 786 F. App’x 62 (7th Cir. 2019).
212 Vidlak v. Cox, 786 F. App’x 62, 63 (7th Cir. 2019).
213 Serra v. Lappin, 600 F.3d 1191 (9th Cir. 2010).
214 The exclusion of prison workers is not explicitly provided for in the FLSA but has developed from judicial
precedent. There has been no specific guidance from Congress or the Supreme Court as to whether the language
of FLSA is meant to exclude incarcerated workers from its protections. However, most appellate courts have
ruled that prison workers are excluded from the definition of “employee” in that Act, thereby excluding them
from protection. See Timothy M. Hall, Coverage, Under Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) (29 U.S.C.A. § 201 et
seq.), of Prisoners Working for Private Individuals or Entities Other Than Prisons, 110 A.L.R. FED. 839, 2a
(2018); Matthew J. Lang, The Search for a Workable Standard for When Fair Labor Standards Act Coverage
Should be Extended to Prisoner Workers, 5 U. PA. J. BUS. L. 19 (2002); Renee Elaine Henson, Picking Cotton for
Pennies: An Exploration into the Law’s Modern Endorsement of a Free-Prison Workforce, 2 BUS.
ENTREPRENEURSHIP & TAX L. REV. 193, 200–01 (2018).
215 See, e.g., Ndambi v. CoreCivic, Inc., 990 F.3d 369 (4th Cir. 2021) (affirming the district court’s dismissal of
an action brought by ICE detainees to recover wages under the FLSA for work performed while detained, on the
grounds that the FLSA does not apply to custodial settings); Harker v. State Use. Indus., 990 F.2d 131 (4th Cir.
1993) (rejecting the prisoners’ claim by distinguishing the employee-employer relationship covered in the FLSA
from the “custodial relationship” of incarcerated workers); Sanders v. Hayden, 544 F.3d 812, 814 (7th Cir. 2008)
(noting that the 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 7th, 8th, 11th, and D.C. Circuits had all held that prisoners are not covered by the
FLSA); Bennett v. Frank, 395 F.3d 409, 409–10 (7th Cir. 2005); Villarreal v. Woodham, 113 F.3d 202, 205–07
(11th Cir. 1997); Gambetta v. Prison Rehab. Indus. & Diversified Enters., 112 F.3d 1119, 1124–25 (11th Cir.
1997); Henthorn v. Dep’t of Navy, 29 F.3d 682, 687 (D.C. Cir. 1994); Harker, 990 F.2d at 133–36; Vanskike, 974
F.2d at 807–12; Gilbreath v. Cutter Biological Inc., 931 F.2d 1320, 1324–27 (9th Cir. 1991). The Fifth circuit has
developed a more nuanced posture, using the “economic reality” from the Supreme Court test in Goldberg v.
Whitaker House Coop. to determine whether incarcerated workers are under an employer-employee relationship.
See, e.g., Henagan, 595 F.3d at 620; Watson v. Graves, 909 F.2d 1549, 1553-56 (5th Cir. 1990) (holding that
prisoners who had not been sentenced to hard labor and were employed by a private firm while on work release
were “employees” of the private employer for the purposes of FLSA coverage). The “economic reality” test
originates in the Supreme Court’s holding that “economic reality” should govern the determination of employer
status under the FLSA. Goldberg v. Whitaker House Coop., 366 U.S. 28, 33, 81 S. Ct. 933, 936 (1961).
216 Coleen Slevin, Colorado Inmates Say State Is Violating Ban on Forced Work, ASSOCIATED PRESS (Feb. 16,
2022); Lora Korpar, Inmates Say Colorado Prison Added Time to Sentences When They Refused Work,
NEWSWEEK (Feb. 16, 2022).
217 Richard Lilgerose and Harold Mortis v. Jared Polis, Dean Williams, and Colorado Dep’t of Corrections,
Compl. filed Feb. 15, 2022, Dist. Ct. Denver Cty. Colorado, https://towardsjustice.org/wp-
content/uploads/2022/02/Amendment-A-litigation-Complaint-Stamped.pdf.
218 Jeremy Jojola, Colorado Prisoners Written Up Hundreds of Times for Refusing to Work, 9news (June 23,
2023), https://www.9news.com/article/news/investigations/lawuit-prison-labor-colorado/73-030f145d-7414-
433e-b2bc-7bb3e100ab0a.
219 Robert Iafolla, Prison Labor Rights in Focus as 3rd Cir. Hears $5-a-Day Pay Case, Bloomberg Law (July 14,
2022), https://www.bloomberglaw.com/bloomberglawnews/daily-labor-
report/X4CDS54G000000?bna_news_filter=daily-labor-report#jcite.
220 William Burrell, Jr., et al v. Tom Staff, et al, Docket No. 21-02846 (3d Cir. Oct 05, 2021), Court Docket,
https://www.bloomberglaw.com/product/blaw/document/X2GNHLIM76F83VR5VDSE14U023R.
221 United Nations General Assembly Resolution 217 (III) A, Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR),
art. 23 (Dec. 10, 1948) (“Everyone has the right to work, to free choice of employment, to just and favourable
conditions of work.…Everyone who works has the right to just and favourable remuneration ensuring for
himself and his family an existence worthy of human dignity…”).
222 UDHR, art. 5. This provision has been codified in International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights
(ICCPR) art. 7, opened for signature Dec. 16, 1966, 999 U.N.T.S. 171 and the Convention Against Torture
(CAT) art. 16, opened for signature Dec. 10, 1984, 1465 U.N.T.S. 85.
223 UDHR, Preamble, art. 2.
224 ICCPR, art. 10(1).
225 ICCPR, art. 10(3).
226 United Nations Human Rights Committee, General Comment No. 21: Art. 10, para. 3 (Apr. 10, 1992).
227 The Human Rights Committee has never addressed ICCPR article 8(3)(b) in its jurisprudence or general
comments. However, the American Convention on Human Rights, which contains a similar provision in article
6, excludes hard labor when imposed as punishment by a competent court. The European Convention on Human
Rights excludes “any work required to be done in the ordinary course of detention.” Art. 4(3)(a). The European
Court of Human Rights does evaluate any difference in legal protections and entitlements granted to prisoners
under the non-discrimination provisions (Article 14) of the Charter. See Stummer v. Austria, App. No. 37452/02,
Eur. Ct. H.R. (Jul. 7, 2011).
228 Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, General Comment No. 18, The Right to Work, adopted
Nov. 24, 2005, UN Doc E/C.12/GC/18 (Feb. 6, 2006) para 23.
229 G.A. Res. 45/111, Basic Principles for the Treatment of Prisoners, ¶ 8 (Dec. 14, 1990).
230 The Mandela Rules seek to ensure that the criminal justice system does not “aggravate the suffering inherent”
in being “cut[ ] off…from the outside world” and deprived of “the right of self-determination.” G.A. Res.
70/175, UN Standard Minimum Rules for the Treatmeant of Prisoners (the Nelson Mandela Rules), U.N. Doc.
A/Res/70/175, at Rule 3 (Jan. 8, 2016).
231 Nelson Mandela Rules, Rule 96 states: “sentenced prisoners shall have the opportunity to work and/or to
actively participate in their rehabilitation” and “sufficient work of a useful nature shall be provided to keep
prisoners actively employed for a normal working day.” Rule 97 states that “[p]rison labour must not be of an
afflictive nature” and “prisoners shall not be held in slavery or servitude.” Rule 98 states that “[s]o far as possible
the work provided shall be such as will maintain or increase the prisoners’ ability to earn an honest living after
release” and that “[p]risoners shall be able to choose the type of work they wish to perform.” With respect to
working conditions, Rule 101 provides that the “precautions laid down to protect the safety and health of free
workers shall be equally observed in prisons.” The same Rule also requires adoption of relevant provisions in order
to “indemnify prisoners against industrial injury, including occupational disease, on terms not less favourable than
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