Denver judge says Colorado prisons cannot punish incarcerated people for refusing to work
"A Denver judge last week ruled the Colorado Department of Corrections violated the state’s ban on involuntary servitude following a class action lawsuit from people incarcerated in Colorado.
Judge Sarah B. Wallace said in her ruling that the department cannot threaten or impose isolation for more than two days and cannot charge people with offenses under the prison disciplinary code for refusing to work. Current department policies allowing punishment for refusing to work violate the Colorado Constitution.
The plaintiffs, led by Harold Mortis, said the state punished incarcerated people who refused to participate in mandatory work programs. Incarcerated people can lose privileges and “earned time,” which accelerates parole eligibility, and can be sent to restrictive housing if they refuse to work.
Nearly two-thirds of Colorado voters supported Amendment A in 2018, which repealed the state’s “exception clause” — a provision in the 13th Amendment and many state constitutions that banned slavery and involuntary servitude except as punishment for a crime. It was the first state to abolish its exception clause. The state constitution now simply reads: “There shall never be in this state either slavery or involuntary servitude.”
https://coloradonewsline.com/briefs/denver-judge-says-colorado-prisons-cannot-punish-incarcerated-people-for-refusing-to-work/