SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — California and Nevada voters will decide in November whether to ban forced prison labor by removing language from their state constitutions rooted in the legacy of chattel slavery.
The measures aim to protect incarcerated people from being forced to work under the threat of punishment in the states, where it is not uncommon for prisoners to be paid less than $1 an hour to fight fires, clean prison cells, make license plates or do yard work at cemeteries.
Nevada incarcerates about 10,000 people. All prisoners in the state are required to work or be in vocational training for 40 hours each week, unless they have a medical exemption. Some of them make as little as 35 cents hourly.
Voters will weigh the proposals during one of the most historic elections in modern history, said Jamilia Land, an advocate with the Abolish Slavery National Network who has spent years trying to get the California measure passed.
“California, as well as Nevada, has an opportunity to end legalized, constitutional slavery within our states, in its entirety, while at the same time we have the first Black woman running for president,” she said of Vice President Kamala Harris’ historic bid as the first Black and Asian American woman to earn a major party’s nomination for the nation’s highest office.
Several other states such as Colorado, Alabama and Tennessee have in recent years done away with exceptions for slavery and involuntary servitude, though the changes were not immediate. In Colorado — the first state to get rid of an exception for slavery from its constitution in 2018 — incarcerated people alleged in a lawsuit filed in 2022 against the corrections department that they had still been forced to work.
“What it did do — it created a constitutional right for a whole class of people that didn’t previously exist,” said Kamau Allen, a co-founder of the Abolish Slavery National Network who advocated for the Colorado measure.
Nevada's proposal aims to abolish from the constitution both slavery and involuntary servitude as punishment for crime. California’s constitution was changed in the 1970s to remove an exemption for slavery, but the involuntary servitude exception remains on the books.
Wildland firefighting is among the most sought-after prison work programs in Nevada. Those eligible for the program are paid around $24 per day.
“There are a lot of people who are incarcerated that want to do meaningful work. Now are they treated fairly? No,” said Chris Peterson, legal director at the American Civil Liberties Union of Nevada, which supports the measure. “They’re getting paid pennies on the hour, where other people get paid dollars, to do incredibly dangerous work.”
Peterson pointed to a state law that created a modified workers’ compensation program for incarcerated people who are injured on the job. Under that program, the amount awarded is based on the person’s average monthly wage when the injury occurred.
In 2016, Darrell White, an injured prison firefighter who filed a claim under the modified program, learned he would receive a monthly disability payment of “$22.30 for a daily rate of $0.50.” By then, White already had been freed from prison, but he was left unable to work for months while he recovered from surgery to repair his fractured finger, which required physical therapy.
White sued the state prison system and Division of Forestry, saying his disability payments should have been calculated based on the state’s minimum wage of $7.25 at the time. The case went all the way up to the Nevada Supreme Court, which rejected his appeal, saying it remained an “open question” whether Nevada prisoners were constitutionally entitled to minimum wage compensation.
“It should be obvious that it is patently unfair to pay Mr. White $0.50 per day,” his lawyer, Travis Barrick, wrote in the appeal, adding that White's needs while incarcerated were minimal compared to his needs after his release, including housing and utilities, food and transportation. “It is inconceivable that he could meet these needs on $0.50 per day.”
The California state Senate rejected a previous version of the proposal in 2022 after Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom's administration cited concerns about the cost if the state had to start paying all prisoners the minimum wage.
Newsom signed a law earlier this year that would require the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation to create a voluntary work program. The agency would set wages for people incarcerated in state prisons under the law. But the law would only take effect if voters approve the forced labor ban.
The law and accompanying measure will give incarcerated people more of an opportunity for rehabilitation through therapy or education instead of being forced to work, said California Assemblymember Lori Wilson, a Democrat representing Solano County who authored this year's proposal.
Wilson suffered from trauma growing up in a household with dysfunction and abuse, she said. She was able to work through her trauma by going to therapy. But her brother, who did not get the same help, instead ended up in prison, she said.
“It's just a tale of two stories of what happens when someone who has been traumatized, has anger issues and gets the rehabilitative work that they need to — what they could do with their life,” Wilson said.
Yannick Ortega, a formerly incarcerated woman who now works at an addiction recovery center in Fresno, California, was forced to work various jobs during the first half of her time serving 20 years in prison for a murder conviction, she said.
“When you are sentenced to prison, that is the punishment,” said Ortega, who later became a certified paralegal and substance abuse counselor by pursuing her education while working in prison. “You’re away from having the freedom to do anything on your own accord.”
Yamat reported from Las Vegas. Austin is a corps member for the Associated Press/Report for America Statehouse News Initiative. Report for America is a nonprofit national service program that places journalists in local newsrooms to report on undercovered issues. Follow Austin on Twitter: @ sophieadanna
FILE - Assemblyman Howard Watts speaks during the sixth day of the 31st Special Session of the Nevada Legislature in Carson City, Nev., July 14, 2020. (David Calvert/The Nevada Independent via AP, Pool, File)
FILE - An inmate selects the letters and numbers to be used to make a specialty license plate by Prison Industries at Folsom State Prison, May 15, 2012, in Folsom, Calif. (AP Photo/Rich Pedroncelli, File)
FILE - Steven Abujen, a California prison inmate with the Prison Industry Authority, cleans one of the newly installed headstones at the Mormon Island Relocation Cemetery, near Folsom, Calif., on Oct. 18, 2011. (AP Photo/Rich Pedroncelli, File)
TOKYO (AP) — Japan's parliament reelected Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba on Monday after his governing coalition suffered the worst election loss in more than a decade, forcing the struggling leader to form his second Cabinet in just over a month since taking office.
Ishiba’s ruling Liberal Democratic Party and its junior partner Komeito together lost their majority in the 465-seat Lower House, the more powerful of Japan’s two-house parliament, in the Oct. 27 election due to continued voter outrage over financial misconduct by his party and its lukewarm response.
A special parliamentary session convened Monday to pick a new leader in a vote required within 30 days of a general election. Ishiba beat top opposition leader Yoshihiko Noda 221-160 in the first runoff in 30 years.
Ishiba reappointed most of his previous Cabinet members, including Foreign Minister Takeshi Iwaya, Defense Minister Gen Nakatani and Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshimasa Hayashi, but had to replace three who lost seats or were affected by the election results.
Ishiba is expected to hold a news conference to explain his new Cabinet and policies.
Ishiba has refused to step down and showed willingness to cooperate with additional coalition partners to boost stability and help him pursue his party’s policies.
Ishiba will struggle in the coming months as he must gain consent from the opposition on policies including the budget and other legislation, experts say.
He is eyeing a rising smaller, conservative opposition, the Democratic Party for the People, whose seats quadrupled to 28 under its popular leader Yuichiro Tamaki, whose proposal for raising the basic tax-free income allowance and increasing take-home wages garnered support from low income and younger voters.
Tamaki only wants to cooperate with Ishiba’s party on policy — not as part of a coalition — since he wants to use his leverage to increase his party’s standing ahead of the next election.
However, Tamaki was recently stung by a magazine article exposing an extramarital affair, which he admitted to on Monday.
Ishiba’s government is preparing for his trip later this month to Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation and Group of 20 summits, as well as a possible meeting with President-elect Donald Trump on his way home.
This story has been corrected to show the summit is Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation, not ASEAN.
Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba, right, speaks with other lawmakers at a special parliamentary session of the lower house Monday, Nov. 11, 2024, in Tokyo. (AP Photo/Eugene Hoshiko)
Keisuke Suzuki, newly appointed justice minister, walks at the prime minister's office Monday, Nov. 11, 2024, in Tokyo. (AP Photo/Shuji Kajiyama)
Defense Minister Gen Nakatani arrives at the prime minister's office Monday, Nov. 11, 2024, in Tokyo. (AP Photo/Shuji Kajiyama)
Junko Mihara, minister in charge of Policies Related to Children, walks at the prime minister's office Monday, Nov. 11, 2024, in Tokyo. (AP Photo/Shuji Kajiyama)
Finance Minister Katsunobu Kato arrives at the prime minister's office Monday, Nov. 11, 2024, in Tokyo. (AP Photo/Shuji Kajiyama)
Foreign Minister Takeshi Iwaya arrives at the prime minister's office Monday, Nov. 11, 2024, in Tokyo. (AP Photo/Shuji Kajiyama)
Hiromasa Nakano, newly appointed minister of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism, arrives at the Prime Minister's office Monday, Nov. 11, 2024, in Tokyo. (AP Photo/Shuji Kajiyama)
Taku Eto, newly appointed Minister of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries, arrives at the prime minister's office Monday, Nov. 11, 2024, in Tokyo. (AP Photo/Shuji Kajiyama)
A staff member at parliament puts up two names, Shigeru Ishiba (of Japanese Prime Minister), right, and Yoshihiko Noda (leader of the Constitutional Democratic Party) for a runoff vote for a new prime minister at a special parliamentary session of the lower house Monday, Nov. 11, 2024, in Tokyo. (AP Photo/Eugene Hoshiko)
Yoshihiko Noda, leader of the Constitutional Democratic Party, votes for the new prime minister at the parliament's lower house Monday, Nov. 11, 2024, in Tokyo. (AP Photo/Eugene Hoshiko)
Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba waits after the first vote for a new prime minister at a special parliamentary session of the lower house Monday, Nov. 11, 2024, in Tokyo. (AP Photo/Eugene Hoshiko)
Lawmakers applaud as Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba, second left on top, was elected for a new prime minister at a special parliamentary session of the lower house Monday, Nov. 11, 2024, in Tokyo. (AP Photo/Eugene Hoshiko)
Lawmakers applaud as Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba, top center, was elected for a new prime minister at a special parliamentary session of the lower house Monday, Nov. 11, 2024, in Tokyo. (AP Photo/Eugene Hoshiko)
Lawmakers applaud as Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba, standing, was elected for a new prime minister at a special parliamentary session of the lower house Monday, Nov. 11, 2024, in Tokyo. (AP Photo/Eugene Hoshiko)
Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba, center, queues for a runoff vote for a new prime minister at a special parliamentary session of the lower house Monday, Nov. 11, 2024, in Tokyo. (AP Photo/Eugene Hoshiko)
Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba, center, reacts as he was elected for a new prime minister at a special parliamentary session of the lower house Monday, Nov. 11, 2024, in Tokyo. (AP Photo/Eugene Hoshiko)
Yuichiro Tamaki, leader of the Democratic Party for the People, makes a parliamentary vote for a new leader during a special parliamentary session of the lower house, Monday, Nov. 11, 2024, in Tokyo. (AP Photo/Eugene Hoshiko)
Yoshihiko Noda, center, head of the Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan, attends a special parliamentary session of the lower house for parliamentary voting for a new leader, Monday, Nov. 11, 2024, in Tokyo. (AP Photo/Eugene Hoshiko)
Lawmakers vote for the new prime minister at the parliament's lower house Monday, Nov. 11, 2024, in Tokyo. (AP Photo/Eugene Hoshiko)
Lawmakers vote for the new prime minister at the parliament's lower house Monday, Nov. 11, 2024, in Tokyo. (AP Photo/Eugene Hoshiko)
Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba, center, attends a special parliamentary session of the lower house before a parliamentary vote for a new leader Monday, Nov. 11, 2024, in Tokyo. (AP Photo/Eugene Hoshiko)
A group of Japanese lawmakers, center, arrive at the parliament in Tokyo Monday, Nov. 11, 2024. (Kyodo News via AP)
A group of Japanese lawmakers, center, arrive at the parliament in Tokyo Monday, Nov. 11, 2024. (Kyodo News via AP)
Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba, center, arrives at his office in Tokyo Monday, Nov. 11, 2024. (Kyodo News via AP)