The intent in this paper is to focus on the California Prison Inmate Labor initiative, or Proposition 139. That Proposition established the possibility of allowing private employers to contract for employment of inmates. There were strong feelings on both sides of the issue, and those will be discussed in the following pages.
The prison labor initiative, or Proposition 139, was initially proposed by Governor George Deukmejian, who favored its passage in order to reduce the cost to the taxpayers of housing prisoners, as well as providing prisoners with some means to increase their work skills and avoid future incarceration. The Constitutional provision forbidding prison labor had been promulgated in 1879, with the intent of avoiding the sordid and exploitative practices that were current at the time. During Ronald Reagan's term of office in California, he attempted to Institute prison labor, but was stopped by the courts. Deukmejian himself earlier attempted to repeal the constitutional ban against the private use of prison laborers, but the state legislature did not support this effort.
The initiative included a number of important provisions. Essentially, this initiative sought to amend the state constitution in order to allow laborers to work at private enterprise jobs. The state Constitution did allow prisoners to engage in private enterprise that would put them in competition with either industry or labor. As a consequence, they were restricted to engaging in work activities that support their own daily living, but cannot perform most work functions. The legal climate varies nationally, with some states allowing prisoners to produce much of their own requirements - food, clothing. furniture, etc. However, other states employ prisoners in labor that directly assists the state, such as the production of license plates.
Work was expected to be voluntary on the part of the prisoners; they would not be required to wor...