Colorado inmate work requirements violate right to be free from slavery

DENVER (CN) — A Denver judge has found the Colorado Department of Corrections’ inmate work requirements violate the state constitution’s ban on slavery and involuntary servitude following a two-week bench trial in October.

“CDOC implements policies which as applied compel and coerce work from plaintiff and the class, constituting involuntary servitude,” Second Judicial District Judge Sarah Wallace wrote in a 61-page opinion issued Feb. 13.

When Colorado initially abolished slavery in 1877, lawmakers left in place a penal exception, allowing slavery and involuntary servitude to be used as punishment for crimes. In 2018, however, voters approved a constitutional amendment that removed the penal exception to outright ban coerced labor practices within the state’s borders.

In the aftermath of the constitutional amendment, however, the state Department of Corrections left its inmate work requirements intact, prompting inmate Harold Mortis to lead a class action against the state in 2022.

In addition to hearing testimony from inmates and corrections staff alike, state Judge Sarah Wallace toured the Fremont Correctional Facility in Canon City, Colorado.

Throughout the trial, Mortis and other inmates testified to the retaliation inmates who refused to work faced, including being placed in restricted confinement, losing privileges and receiving fewer opportunities to earn points toward early release.

Judge Alex Myers granted partial summary judgment to the state on Oct. 27, 2022, finding the laws requiring inmates to work did not outright violate their rights unless inmates faced legal or physical force as punishment. Myers also found loss of earned time or privileges did not violate inmates’ rights, since they are not entitled to receive them.

The inmates appealed, but the state Court of Appeals declined to review the case.

The case was reassigned to Wallace, who granted class certification in 2024 and denied both parties’ motions for summary judgment in August. Both Wallace and Myers were appointed by Democratic Governor Jared Polis.

In closing, state attorneys argued that inmates make choices and that they can choose not to work without extending their mandatory time in prison.

Working in prison leads to better opportunities, the state argued, and not working meant fewer opportunities. The corrections department saw no need to change these rules following the passage of the amendment, because in their view, the program already complied with the rule change.

State attorneys cautioned the court against intervening in prison management, where security, safety and rehabilitation are a complex calculation.

Wallace ordered the state to end its practice of using threats of isolation and changes in housing to compel work from inmates, with a deadline of 28 days to implement rule changes.

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