US Edition
Denver judge rules Colorado Department of Corrections violates state constitution in prison labor program
Denver District Court finds Colorado prisons used threats of solitary confinement and severe penalties to coerce inmate labor, violating the 2018 state constitutional amendment.
- On Friday, Denver District Court Judge Sarah Wallace ruled CDOC coerced inmates into work, violating Colorado's 2018 ban on involuntary servitude, and entered a declaratory judgment that defendants are in violation of the Colorado Constitution.
- Four years ago, a class action was filed by Harold Mortis, serving a 40-year sentence at Sterling Correctional Facility, on behalf of thousands incarcerated in Colorado, prosecuted by Towards Justice with End Slavery Colorado's support.
- Wallace heard from 11 witnesses, including inmates and prison officials, and wrote that CDOC's labor management framework uses escalating restrictions that undermine voluntariness in a pervasive system of coercion.
- The court ordered CDOC to stop using segregation for failure to work and barred solitary confinement longer than three days, giving defendants 28 days to appeal.
- State prisons in Colorado rely on inmate labor for food, laundry and custodial work, while Colorado Correctional Industries operates 16 businesses in 8 prisons and incarcerated people are paid well below minimum wage.
11 Articles
11 Articles
Denver Post
Coerced Colorado prison labor amounts to involuntary servitude, judge rules
Colorado prisons officials forced inmates to work prison jobs through coercion that ultimately amounted to involuntary servitude, a Denver judge ruled Friday.
Judge rules state must end ‘slavery’ for its prison population * WorldNetDaily * by Bob Unruh
Source link Some century and a half after slavery mostly ended across the rest of the United States, a federal judge now is ordering Colorado to end its own state slavery program. It involves forcing inmates in the state prison system to work. A report from KMGH-TV in Denver explains the case already is four years
Denver judge rules Colorado Department of Corrections violates state constitution in prison labor program
A Denver judge ruled that the Colorado Department of Corrections has been violating an amendment to the state constitution by requiring people in state prisons to work under threat of solitary confinement and other punishments.
Coverage Details
Bias Distribution
- 70% of the sources are Center
Factuality
To view factuality data please Upgrade to Premium
