My first job I ever had was behind bars. And that half decade of work experience did not help or translate to employment after release nor my re-entry, in fact I actually paroled with debt.
I served seven years in custody, six of those being in CDCR.
There is a common agreement that forced labor, unfair wages, or slavery is bad and unethical, but is it okay if it happens to people in custody? Are these folks no longer human or people in society's eyes? If so, then I ask why California's prison system is called California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation when there is no interest in rehabilitation?
Proposition 6 would make working assignments - labor - provide incentives like either resulting in good time credits to earn a sooner release date or raise the wages. Without it, working conditions would be like mine: unfair wages and involuntary. You don't have the option to opt out, you are told what to do and if you refuse it will result in punishment, CDCR’s version of a whip to a slave.
My job in a California prison - or an “inmate assignment” as they call them - was being paid $0.08 an hour. It added up to $0.64 a day with no lunch at all. I've had a few different jobs over the span of my time in prison, and for all of the 6 years this was true for all jobs. This added up to about 12 dollars and some change at the end of the month.
All of Us or None co-founder Dorsey Nunn addresses the crowd at the Yes on Prop 6 Rally in San Mateo County.
I did not have money sent to my books (my account in prison) because I owed restitution that I still have to pay off to this day. For those who don’t know, if you owe restitution when a loved one sends you money, 55% gets confiscated by CDCR. So for $100, you would only receive $45. Therefore, for the entirety of my prison term, this was the only source of funds I had to go to commissary to buy items such as food or hygiene.
This process of getting taxed on the money being sent to me for restitution also applied to the money earned from my labor. This meant I couldn’t afford to buy food from commissary. Very often the food served in CDCR is not enough, nor desirable with breakfast being cooked the night before and sitting for hours before being served cold. Lunch was four thin pieces of bread with two thin slices of I don’t know what kind of meat, and one packet of mustard. Dinner was served around 5 o’clock, leaving you starving again by count time at 9pm.
So after my 12 dollars a month was cut down to $8 a month after restitution, I was able to buy a $6 box of soups and a bar of soap. These pre-Covid prices have changed and have been made more expensive. Soups are now $ 0.35 adding up to $8.40, which would have beyond my budget.
Prices inflate but the wages do not, which are basically next to nothing.
Slavery still exists today and they try to hide behind closed doors. Voting yes on 6 would be the first and biggest step towards ending slavery and fighting against the racist oppressive system that substantially affects and takes advantage people of color.
Photos of Yes on Proposition 6 March and Rally in San Mateo:
Community marches from the jail to the San Mateo DA's Office.
Bay Area organizations join San Mateo community to rally for Proposition 6.
Legal Services for Prisoners With Children Regional Advocacy & Organizing Associate Lawrence Cox.
