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Push begins to ban prison slave labor

Feb 09, 2023 12:09 pm

Rebecca C. Lewis reports for City and State that activists in Albany are pushing for a constitutional amendment to ban prison slave labor, and legislation to require incarcerated people receive at least minimum wage for work while incarcerated. Currently, eight states have passed amendments to ban forced prison labor, but prisoners in New York make just pennies an hour for work such as making hand sanitizer during the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic. The U.S. Constitution bans slavery among citizens, but not for incarcerated individuals. Assembly Member Harvey Epstein, who is sponsoring the amendment to ban slave labor in New York prisons, told City & State, "I think we just need to line up our values with our laws." Read the full story at City and State.