California Senate could approve a ballot measure to end forced labor in prison. Here's why advocates have been pushing for it

As the COVID-19 pandemic made its way into California’s prison system in 2020, Samual Nathaniel Brown was nearing the end of his 24-year sentence in California State Prison, Los Angeles County. But his assignment as a healthcare facility maintenance worker was putting him at increased risk of infection, and he was getting nervous.

Neighboring cellmates were dying. And he no longer wanted to disinfect the hospital cells housing those who tested positive.

California’s prison system, however, isn’t a corporation that has to abide by typical labor laws. In fact, incarcerated people have little to no say in their job assignments under the state’s constitution — if they refuse, they can face retaliation and restrictions.

On Thursday, though, the state Senate could take a big step in changing that if it approves a ballot measure that advocates have been pushing for years.

“I was watching strong men that I knew from the yard catch this virus and die,” Brown said. “All I could do is sit there masked up to the best of my ability. That was traumatizing.”

Brown said when he told correctional officers he didn’t want to keep risking his life for the job, they threatened him with a write up, even though they themselves wouldn’t go beyond the double doors with the COVID-positive patients. Because a write up could have put him at risk of having parole denied just months from release, he kept working.

The California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation did not respond to specific questions regarding Brown’s allegations, and in a statement said the agency cannot comment on pending legislation.

“CDCR values the contributions of its incarcerated workers and is committed to its mission to prepare people in its custody to successfully return to their communities,” the agency added.

Under the California Constitution’s “exception clause,” people entering the prison system are usually given a job assignment, which can range from the kitchen, yard maintenance, adult education or janitor, among other things. This disproportionately  impacts people of color — as Black people make up 28% of California prisons despite making only 5% of the overall state population, and Latinos are 45% of the state’s prison population, according to the Prison Policy Initiative.

Other states, such as Alabama, Oregon and Tennessee, have already amended their constitution to remove the exception clause. Formerly incarcerated activists and abolitionists have been pushing California to do the same since 2020.

State senators on Thursday are slated to decide whether to approve the  End Slavery in California Act, or ACA 8 for the November ballot. If approved, it would change the California Constitution to remove the “exception clause” and prohibit slavery in any form, and a companion bill the coalition is pushing would also require informed consent to work in prison. A two-thirds majority would be needed for it to pass.

The mobilization to end forced prison labor in California

Before he left prison, Brown spent long nights studying regulation manuals and law books to draft a constitutional amendment, or ACA 3, to abolish involuntary servitude once and for all.

“As I began to study and read more, I realized that the institution of slavery never ended, it was merely just repackaged,” Brown said.

Advocates with the End Slavery coalition rally to support ACA 8 and end involuntary servitude in California.

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Photo courtesy Lawrence Cox

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While the ACA 3 measure died on the Senate floor in 2022, abolitionists in California have continued to push for the constitutional change with ACA 8 introduced early last year.

Those incarcerated often experience retaliation when they refuse to work, advocates say. The California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation leverages these privileges to incentivize people to comply with forced labor, said Lawrence Cox, regional advocacy and organizing associate with the Legal Services for Prisoners with Children. Incarcerated people who do work have full yard and canteen privileges.

Cox stressed the importance of incarcerated people being able to prioritize their education and rehabilitation to prepare themselves with skills and make them employable when released. While employment after prison can help reduce recidivism, two-thirds of incarcerated people experience joblessness and struggle to find work after prison.

“When people get home to the streets, we're not making the decisions for them as a society, we're expecting them to make those decisions,” Cox said. “Informed consent not only comes when you're deciding whether you're going to go through education, whether you're going to take these rehabilitative courses, informed consent should also exist when it comes to work.”

Having spent 17 years inside women's prisons in California, April Grayson, senior policy manager at Sister Warriors Freedom Coalition, said she was forced to work jobs in the kitchen, and as a janitor, porter and yard worker — none of which helped her prepare for reentry. If she was working with the yard crew, she would have to miss out on taking college classes, she added.

“If given the choice, some people might choose to go to college or take vocational training so that they can better prepare themselves to come home,” Grayson said. “That's all we're asking, can we offer people the choice on where and how they would like to spend their time so that they can be the most successful version of themselves when they come home?”

Changing the California Constitution

There is a nationwide movement to repeal the exemption clause in the US Constitution. Last June, Georgia Rep. Nikema Williams reintroduced the Abolition Amendment. The measure would remove the “exception clause” loophole in the 13th Amendment except “as a punishment for crime” — similar to ACA 8 in California.

Carmen-Nicole Cox, director of government affairs with the American Civil Liberties Union California Action, said it’s past time “to finally and fully divorce our Constitution from the oppressive, brutal, racist practice of taking someone's labor without their consent,” especially in California, a state that seems to “profess to value human labor.”

She also said she has heard many stories of retaliation against incarcerated people when they refuse to work, such as correctional officers “forgetting” to open the person’s cell, giving their family a hard time during visiting, and targeted searches of their cells. They can also get longer sentences or have their parole denied, Cox said.

Grayson said ACA 8 opponents commonly cite concerns that people in prison might not want to work. But she said a lot of people in prison would choose to work to get out of their cell and make money to afford canteen items and packages.

Meanwhile, the End Slavery coalition is continuing to mobilize. In early May, the group had a rally in Sacramento with more than 550 formerly incarcerated, system-impacted and community members in attendance. On June 18, they marched to the state Capitol building.

“It is by and large about human agency and human dignity,” Carmen-Nicole Cox said. “Anything short of the ability to withhold, or even subsequently withdraw your consent to labor for the benefit of someone else, is slavery.”

Victoria Valenzuela is an investigative reporter based in California, covering issues in criminal justice. She has previously contributed to The Guardian, BuzzFeed News, ScheerPost, Bolts, and LA Taco.