Analysis

Immigrants Find Workers' Rights Behind Bars

By Daniela Porat

Immigration detainees are bringing about a sea change in workers’ rights behind bars, chipping away at the assumption that people in civil detention or in prison fall outside the reach of minimum wage laws and protections against forced labor.

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Analysis

Working While Caged: The Fight To End Forced Prison Labor

By Marco Poggio

Inmates 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 back to American slavery and the 13th Amendment.

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Audio

Listen: Prison Wages Debate Evolving With Petitions Pending

By Max Kutner

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.

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Analysis

Key Question In Inmates' Wage Fight: Are They Employees?

By Irene Spezzamonte

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.

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Interview

Atty Says Imprisoned Clients' Meager Pay Part Of Bigger Issue

By Emmy Freedman

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.

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Interview

Congressman Wants Another Shot At Incarcerated Wages Bill

By Max Kutner

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.

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Perspectives

State Efforts To End Slavery Loophole Are Just The Start

Though several states have changed their constitutions to close the 13th Amendment’s carveout that allows slavery as punishment for a crime, it is now incumbent on the legal profession to transform the amendments into effectuated rights, says Adam Davidson at University of Chicago Law School.

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Trump Executive Order Aims To Defend Police In Lawsuits

By Brandon Lowrey

President Donald Trump has issued an executive order directing the attorney general to help defend police officers from misconduct lawsuits, including arranging private-sector pro bono aid for them.

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NYPD Hit With Class Action Claiming Racial Bias In Gang List

By Brandon Lowrey

Three men on a New York Police Department list of criminal gang members filed a putative class action alleging officers unconstitutionally surveil, detain and harass Black and Latino people on the list, civil rights groups said Wednesday.

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Pa. Officials To Face Juvenile Prison Abuse Suit, For Now

By P.J. D'Annunzio

A federal judge ruled Tuesday that high-ranking officials from Pennsylvania's Department of Human Services must face a lawsuit filed by former inmates at a Delaware County juvenile correctional facility alleging widespread abuse, at least for now. 

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Conn. Exoneree Says Town Can't Escape $5.7M Jury Verdict

By Aaron Keller

A murder exoneree who spent three decades in prison has asked a federal judge to reject a Connecticut town's attempt to escape a $5.7 million evidence fabrication award, saying a limited post-verdict review weighs in his favor and that the town's prior Second Circuit loss supports his win.

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Tenant Right To Counsel Grows But Faces Major Hurdles

By Marco Poggio

Five states, 17 cities and one county enacted laws between 2017 and 2024 guaranteeing tenants the right to legal counsel in eviction proceedings, but uneven implementation, chronic underfunding and persistent court barriers have sharply limited the programs' effectiveness, according to a new national study published Friday.

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Federal Defenders Of NY Staff Announce Union Drive

By Andrea Keckley

Staff members at the Federal Defenders of New York have announced their plans to join their attorney colleagues as members of the Association of Legal Advocates and Attorneys.

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Conn. Poised To Count Pro Bono Work As CLE Credits

By Aaron Keller

The Connecticut Superior Court's rules committee on Monday advanced a plan that could allow attorneys to earn minimum continuing legal education credits by providing pro bono legal services, potentially placing the state among just three that allow lawyers to earn half their yearly requirements through volunteering.

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