State legislation would bar prison work loophole

As Americans celebrate Juneteenth, which commemorates the emancipation of Black people from slavery, state legislators are considering a bill to amend the state constitution by barring what they say is slavery within the state’s correctional facilities.

The lawmakers are seeking to amend Article 1 of the state’s Bill of Rights by adding language stating that “No incarcerated individual … shall be compelled or induced to provide labor against his or her will by actual or threatened force, punishment, sexual assault, or by any other means…”

“Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude shall exist in the state of New York for persons convicted of crimes,” the proposed amendment continues.

The state Assembly is set to vote on the bill, which, if passed, will be included as a ballot measure and in the hands of New Yorkers.

“It’s really important that we take a stand in New York that we want people to work, but we don’t want forced labor,” Assembly Member Harvey Epstein, who sponsored the legislation, told The Chief last week.

The legislation easily cleared the State Senate earlier this month.

The Department of Corrections and Community Supervision declined to comment on the pending legislation.

Michael Collins, the senior director of state and local government affairs at the advocate group Color of Change, noted that people in prison have faced punishments such as solitary confinement and the loss of good time credits, or have faced threats of physical and sexual abuse, for refusing to work.

“The 13th Amendment ended slavery, but it had an exemption for prisoners and that has allowed New York to build a prison labor system,” he told The Chief. “I think many people aren’t aware this is an issue. I think if we get this on the ballot, it will pass quite easily.”

'Contradicts our values'

Corcraft, which employs incarcerated New Yorkers and operates within the Department of Corrections and Community Supervision, produces goods and services such as classroom and office furniture, mattresses and abatement services. The company earned $53 million in revenue in fiscal year 2019, according to the state Comptroller’s Office. Corcraft employs approximately 1,750 inmates across 26 correctional facilities, and operates two Department of Motor Vehicle call centers.

Incarcerated workers in New York State earn between 16 and 65 cents per hour. Collins added that besides earning exceedingly low wages, prisoners work in "horrific" conditions. During the height of the Covid pandemic, prisoners built coffins and made hand sanitizer without the appropriate personal protective equipment, he noted.

“I think the values of New York are contradicted in the prison system,” Collins said.

Epstein believed that barring prisoners from indentured servitude at best and institutionalized slavery at worst was the “first step” in a larger conversation about the state of the criminal justice system and the need to improve labor conditions in prisons.

“I think it’s really important to talk about the roots of racism and how people of color are overrepresented in our criminal justice system,” he said during a phone interview.

Black New Yorkers currently make up 49 percent of the 32,000 people incarcerated across the state, according to DOCCS. Nearly a quarter of the imprisoned population is Latino.

Epstein added that another bill would focus on raising wages for incarcerated workers. “We need to talk about why we’re paying people 13 cents an hour to do hard manual labor,” he said during a phone interview. “Couldn’t we imagine a world where an incarcerated person leaves prison with $10,000 in their pocket? That would be transformative.” 

Voters in Alabama, Vermont, Tennessee and Oregon have recently approved similar measures banning forced prison labor.

“We’re grateful for the No Slavery in New York Act,” Collins said. “This isn’t the end of the road on this issue.”

clewis@thechiefleader.com