As wildfires raged across Los Angeles in January, all eyes were on the over 7,500 firefighters that heroically helped to quell the flames. 15 percent of these firefighters were incarcerated. Their part in fighting one of the deadliest fires in California’s history is a visible marker of California’s expansive prison labor system and its pivotal role in our society.
Abolish Slavery National Network (ASNN), a network of organizations working to organize and advocate against incarcerated labor, has spearheaded efforts in 10 states to remove the 13th Amendment, which allows slavery as a punishment for crime. One of these states, California, featured Prop 6 on its November 2024 ballot.
Incarcerated people in California help to fight fires through the CDCR’s Conservation Fire Camps Program. There are restrictions on who can participate–their sentence has to be less than eight years, and they cannot have been convicted of serious crimes.
In 2023, wages doubled from a cap of $5.12 to a still meager maximum of $10.24 per day for incarcerated firefighters, with supplemental pay for emergencies. In comparison, in the Los Angeles County Fire Department (LACFD), professional firefighters’ pay starts at $85,000 per year.
If an incarcerated firefighter were to help fire crews every day of the year, they would only earn 4.9% of what their non-incarcerated counterparts earn in a year.
The decision to participate in the program is voluntary, so incarcerated people do not experience discipline if opting not to. When it comes to the jobs they’re assigned, however, they are often used as manual laborers, work that is grueling and exhausting.
Incentives (firefighters can earn up to two days off of their sentence for every day they help to fight fires, and placements in fire camps offer inmates better living conditions) still provide a motive for incarcerated people to put their lives on the line.
This system of hard work and low pay is legal under the 13th Amendment, the addition to the Constitution that both “abolished” slavery and made incarcerated prison labor legal:
“Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, except as a punishment for crime whereof the party shall have been duly convicted, shall exist within the United States, or any place subject to their jurisdiction.”
But the role of incarcerated firefighters is just the tip of the iceberg of California’s prison labor system, pointed out Dennis Febo, managing director of ASNN.
“It’s just that firefighters stick out because right there outside, it’s visible. The job is visible. Everyone can see them,” he said. “When you go behind the prison, they’ve got all kinds of jobs, and they work these guys in California for free or minimum wage, right?”
In California, other less visible jobs are just as present, and often receive even less pay. According to Scholars Strategy Network, 94% of prison labor jobs stay within the institution–involving tasks like kitchen and laundry duties, which are vital but invisible to the public.
The legality of this exploitation poses a huge obstacle in protecting the basic rights of incarcerated people. “In the courtroom, whenever someone would try to sue that their body is being abused or that they’re being exploited, the courts would dismiss it for the 13th Amendment Right. They’ll say, 13th Amendment. It is legal for them to be able to do that,” he said. “So that’s where we’ve been stuck.”
photo courtesy of Public Domain
Furthermore, when incarcerated people are released from confinement, they face virtually no viable paths to pursuing a full-time career based on their work while incarcerated; their service is used to aid the state, but it doesn’t give them any personal advantage whatsoever.
Critics of the prison labor system argue that it exploits incarcerated people, putting them in dangerous situations for meager pay. In fact, racism and exploitation is intertwined with the very roots of prison labor and incarceration.
Slavery was a keystone of many southern states’ economies, and its abolishment created the need for an alternative. Therefore, southern states derived “Black Codes,” a series of laws that criminalized Black people for “crimes” such as unemployment, vagrancy, and leaving jobs without noticing their employer. This penal system unfairly funneled Black people into the mass incarceration system, providing a source of cheap labor to replace slavery.
Many states, including California, also participated in the practice of convict leasing, in which the services of incarcerated people, who were overwhelmingly Black and male, were leased to private individuals. Their labor produced products that were sold to the government, allowing former slave owners to continue a parallel practice and allowing the government to profit off of cheap labor.
As a result, labor is not only deeply ingrained in the mass incarceration system, but also a key facet of the American economy and a staple of its justice system. Because of its history as a vessel for a replacement of slavery, the incarceration system is irrevocably tied to labor.
Essentially, justification of a practice explicitly adjacent to slavery stems from an innate need to punish–a product of a justice system that values punishment over rehabilitation. “The United States have been so reliant, I’m going to say, addicted, to this concept, they don’t know justice otherwise,” Febo said.
Interestingly, the successes of ASNN’s efforts to abolish slavery don’t fall along party lines like many current political issues; in fact, red states like Nevada have successfully amended their state constitutions, while liberal California failed to pass abolitionist Prop 6, which was on the state ballot last November.
On California’s online voters’ guide, Prop 6 is described with no shortage of benefits, both for incarcerated people and voters as a whole:
“Proposition 6 ends slavery in California and upholds human rights and dignity for everyone. It replaces carceral involuntary servitude with voluntary work programs, has bipartisan support, and aligns with national efforts to reform the 13th Amendment. It will prioritize rehabilitation, lower recidivism, and improve public safety, resulting in taxpayer savings.”
And although no cons or information against the proposed reform is listed on the website, 53% of voters weren’t convinced. Confusing language, as well as lack of awareness, may have contributed to its failure, Febo thought. Although its description gives more depth to the proposition’s scope, its actual title doesn’t explicitly mention slavery, instead referencing its adjacent involuntary servitude.
In fact, many Americans believe slavery is a thing of the past. “Our schools have been teaching that slavery was abolished, yeah. But when we go around, we tell people, hey, we want to end slavery. Most people go, huh? I thought that was abolished. And then I’ve got to sit there. You know how many times I’ve told this story in the beginning, over and over again, so that they understand?” Febo said, laughing.
Undeterred by this setback, ASNN continues to work to codify the rights of incarcerated people, both visible or non-visible, from firefighters to janitors. “The Constitution doesn’t make a distinction,” Febo said. “It says slavery. Doesn’t say prison slavery, modern slavery–no, it says slavery. So for anyone to make a distinction is kind of taking away from the truth.”
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