Colorado voted to end forced prison labor in 2018 – so why are incarcerated people in the state still working for less than $2 an hour?

Many jails and prisons are dependent on incarcerated labor to keep costs low.

By: Julia Bowling, City University of New York, The Conversation

Outlets: The Conversation

Published: May 29, 2026

Words: 1,337

Last Updated: 1 month, 3 weeks ago

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By Julia Bowling, City University of New York

Colorado voters passed Amendment A, a ballot measure touted as an end to slavery in state prisons in 2018. The amendment eliminated the penal exception clause, which allowed the state to use forced labor in addition to incarceration as a punishment for crime.

Colorado was the first of eight states to repeal its penal exception clause. Advocates for the policy change hoped it would …

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