Trial To End Prison Slavery In Colorado

Maxted Law LLC is proud to represent our courageous clients and been part of the team challenging unconstitutional involuntary servitude and forced labor in Colorado prisons.

DENVER (CN) — A Denver judge will decide whether the Colorado Department of Correction’s inmate work requirements violate the state constitution’s ban on slavery and involuntary servitude following a two-week bench trial that ended Thursday.

“Slavery and involuntary servitude are America’s original sin,” argued attorney David Maxted, who represents a class of inmates challenging the state prison’s work scheme.

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.

“Part of the reason voters passed this is because they believed the state should not have the power to compel individuals to work against their will,” Maxted said. “This is a moral judgment.”

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 on Feb. 15, 2022.

According to the inmates in their complaint, people who refuse to work face restricted confinement, loss of privileges and 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 Court of Appeals declined to review the case.

The case was reassigned to state Judge Sarah Wallace, who granted class certification on Dec. 17, 2024, and denied both parties’ motions for summary judgment on Aug. 26. Both Wallace and Myers were appointed by Democratic Governor Jared Polis.

In closing, state attorney Ann Stanton argued that inmates make choices and that they can choose not to work.

“This case isn’t about the fact that there are consequences, it’s about the degree of consequences,” Stanton said. “You haven’t heard evidence that the consequences reach the level of involuntary servitude.”

After lead plaintiff Harold Mortis and several other inmates testified to being placed in solitary confinement for refusing to work, Stanton pushed back, characterizing these as isolated incidents and not indicative of a widespread practice. The state attorney pointed out that some of the inmates ended up in restrictive housing not just for refusing to work but also for being difficult to manage, possessing banned paraphernalia or making hooch.

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

In addition to hearing testimony from prison staff and inmates, Wallace toured the Fremont Correctional Facility in Canon City on Wednesday, an experience she called “informative.”

After hearing closing arguments, Wallace posed two questions to the parties: to what extent she needed to consider the culmination of different policies amounting to involuntary servitude, and whether the existence of policies that supported the practice of coerced labor was enough or if coerced labor practices needed to be widespread to amount to a violation of the law.

“Do the plaintiffs have to prove that involuntary servitude is rampant throughout the state corrections system, or do they just have to prove that the current policies and practices enable involuntary servitude?” Wallace asked.

The judge did not indicate how she would decide the case but gave the parties four weeks to submit findings of fact and conclusions of law.

Article By: Amanda Pampuro, Courthouse News Service