Prisoners returning from a farm detail are escorted by a prison guard mounted on a horse that had been broken by the prisoners at Louisiana State Penitentiary in Angola, Louisiana. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert)
In prisons, immigration detention centers and jails across the country, incarcerated people mop hallways, sew uniforms, file papers, raise crops, make furniture, bake bread and recycle trash. Courts are now being faced with the question: Does doing work while locked up make a person a worker?
The legal status of these workers varies greatly, and with it their right to be paid fairly for their work. Some are imprisoned after a conviction, while others are in pre-trial or civil detention without being charged with a crime. A growing number of immigrants without legal status are also detained and some are required to work.
Advocates and lawyers have been exploring ways to sue under federal and state minimum wage and forced labor laws, and these legal arguments have recently gained some traction in the courts.
People convicted of crimes face an uphill battle because of a carveout in the constitutional amendment that ended slavery. Civil immigration detainees, however, have seen a federal appellate court agree that they are entitled to minimum wage when they work.
Law360's Access to Justice and Employment Authority publications have collaborated to bring readers this special report on Workers Behind Bars, exploring the push to end subminimum wage and forced labor for incarcerated workers and the labor laws central to this dispute.
Feature
Immigrants Find Workers' Rights Behind Bars
Immigration detainees are bringing about a sea change in the rights of people behind bars to be shielded from forced work and to get paid fair wages when they do work — chipping away at the assumption that those in civil detention or who are imprisoned fall outside the reach of minimum wage laws and protections against forced labor.Feature
Working While Caged: The Fight To End Forced Prison Labor
Inmate firefighters battling wildfires are just the tip of the iceberg in a largely invisible workforce of more than 800,000 people who work for meager pay while incarcerated. Civil rights lawyers, advocates and some elected officials are pushing to change the legal framework that enables prison labor practices, which many trace to American slavery and the 13th Amendment.Audio
Listen: Prison Wages Debate Evolving With Petitions Pending
The debate regarding whether incarcerated people who perform work are employees and thus entitled to federal wage and hour protections is set to continue to develop. Listen to Law360 Explores: Subminimum Wage Part 2.Analysis
Key Question In Inmates' Wage Fight: Are They Employees?
Despite a growing body of case law laying out a blueprint for determining whether incarcerated workers are employees — which would legally entitle them to minimum wage and other protections — there is no definitive way to classify workers behind bars.Interview
Congressman Wants Another Shot At Incarcerated Wages Bill
While courts grapple with whether incarcerated workers are employees under the Fair Labor Standards Act and thus entitled to minimum wage and other protections, congressional Democrats plan to make another attempt to update the statute to answer that question.Interview
Atty Says Imprisoned Clients' Meager Pay Part Of Bigger Issue
Sonia Kumar has spent her 17-year legal career representing people who have spent decades behind bars in Maryland prisons. As a senior staff attorney with the American Civil Liberties Union, Kumar has fought for racial justice and combated abuses within the prison system.