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- Title
PRISONERS AS "QUASI-EMPLOYEES".
- Authors
Heben, Ethan
- Abstract
Prison laborers represent a unique class within the workforce of the United States. Prisoners do not meet the definition of "employee" under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA), but the products and services they generate create significant profits for private companies and, in general, the prison industrial complex (PIC). The PIC has seen tremendous growth in recent years, but Congress and courts have been slow to provide the necessary protections required for inmate laborers. The dual problems of prisoners' limited compensation and protections are only compounded by the prison population's disproportionate number of minority inmates. Any potential reform of the PIC must consider these discriminatory effects in light of historical discrimination-including slavery and the convict-labor system-within the United States. Congress, working with key stakeholders, has the rare opportunity to address this issue on a clean slate, as there are no current statutes that adequately address prison laborers' status and rights. This Article argues that a new statutory regime should classify working prisoners as "quasi-employees" due to the innate pecuniary nature of certain prison labor, especially when the labor is for private companies. This regime should focus on the reality of each employerprisoner relationship, take into consideration the human dignity of each prisoner, and endorse policies to reduce recidivism and the debilitating effects of incarceration on future employment. In turn, this regime would remove the ambiguity of applying the FLSA to prisoner laborers, address the current pay deficiencies, and mitigate the discriminatory effects of racial disparity in the PIC.
- Subjects
FAIR Labor Standards Act of 1938 (U.S.); PRISON industries; LEGAL status of prisoners; LABOR laws
- Publication
University of Florida Journal of Law & Public Policy, 2021, Vol 31, Issue 2, p183
- ISSN
1047-8035
- Publication type
Article