California has depended on prisoners within fire camps to fight fires for an extended period . Though it is a good way of keeping them busy, instances of discrimination and exploitation within these camps have raised more questions than answers. With regards to the above, this report focuses on the exploitation of inmates in California fire camps. While some people are impressed by the confidence portrayed by the inmates struggling to fight fire , others perceive this as a form of slave labor within the prison system.
California has been relying on its prison inmate's population to fight fires since World War II. Currently, prisoners serving time for non-violent crimes comprise approximately forty percent of fire-fighters, this saves the state about $100 million every year (Goodman, 2012). The state of California has depended on prison labor so much to the extent of undermining state policy (Fathi, 2018). In 2014, the California Prison system was given an order to release credit to prisoners who had minimum security. The state's lawyers contended against earlier releases saying that the fire camps will be severely impacted . Due to the huge amount of money that the State saves by using inmates' cheap labor, it finds it difficult to release them in fear of losing money and labor at the same time.
Delegate your assignment to our experts and they will do the rest.
The inmates are paid $2 per day and $1 dollar for every extra hour. This pay confirms the protesters' claim that California prisons indorse servitude. This pay doesn't correspond to the hard labor these inmates are subjected to . Despite the little pay and the dangers that the inmates are exposed to, they do not receive any death benefits whatsoever (Neklason, 2017). Upon keen examination of this condition, I can say the CDCR is taking advantage of prisoners. For instance, more than seventeen thousand inmates fought on the front line of vicious wildfires that stormed Northern California in October 2017 (Fathi 2018). These inmates operated in turns up to seventy-two hours to control the blaze and safeguard the property left behind by residents. When this work is considered and the danger that these people are exposed to in comparison to their little payment it doesn't turn out to be right (Neklason, 2017). A former inmate who served in Puerta La Cruz fire camp said that the system perceives it to be an act of volunteering, but in the real sense, it is forced labor where they are left with no option other than joining the fire camp (Fathi 2018). Firefighters generate $75, 000 a year while the inmates who almost do the same job as the fire-fighters are just enslaved away from prison with the promise of serving short terms in jail.
Most of the inmates interviewed say that being in fire camps is a better idea than being confined in prisons. However, at fire camps, they struggle to survive as they endure the abuse from guards with the fear of being returned to prison (Gilmore, 2007). For that reason, the inmates are taken advantage of as they suffer silently due to the fear they have (Goodkind, 2018). The inmates suffer injuries, but they are afraid of reporting for fear of being taken back to enclosed prisons. This shows that the Californian Department of Correction and Rehabilitation (CDCR) is just concerned with the people who can corporate with them in diverse aspects (Goodman, 2012).
Most firefighters in California are required to be licensed emergency medical technicians, but these convicted individuals are barred from getting the qualification, and this means that they cannot seek jobs using the experience and skills gained once released from prison. Considering this, I wonder whether the California Department of Correction and rehabilitation is concerned with changing the lives of prisoners. If they do, then it is good that they give the prisoners licenses so that they can use their skills to earn a living.
Dumas gives his story while he was an inmate; he says he was a dedicated trainee who underwent difficult tests before finally being appointed as a head sawyer. He was engaged in risky activities which almost cost him his life. Despite all his commitment, he was forced to quit the camp and went back to prison just because of a safety disagreement with his civilian captain (Goodman, 2012). From this, it is evident how the inmates are not valued even though they work hard to prove their worth. From my understanding, people are supposed to be awarded for doing good jobs and be given an opportunity to express their mind ; this encourages them to do much better.
Jordan Barab, an ex-deputy assistant secretary of the occupational safety and health administration, stated that the jobs these prisoners do sometimes put them in danger. The prisoners don't have similar job security or rights to complain concerning their unsafe conditions. Moreover, they do not have an opportunity to choose what to do. This is an enslaved group who are being forced to put their life at risk (Goodkind, 2018).
In the year 1983, CDRC started a relatively good version of Skinnerian behavior reform methods, which is known as "inmate work/Training Incentive program" (IWTIP). Under the conditions of IWTIP, any prisoner who did a job or went to learn would receive more sentence reduction benefits than the other prisoners who did not engage in any work or a learning program (Pont, 2008). They, therefore, lured the prisoners to participate in their activities by promising them more privileges if they work more or learn (Zoukis, 2011). This is a form of exploitation where CDRC uses its facilities to force the prisoners to do what they want. However, this method came to an end, and visitation privileges which were gained at a cost were now free for every prisoner. According to the article written by Zoukis, currently, visitation privileges are available to a small portion of inmates who are not separated by virtue of their illegitimate history (2011). This raises concern since these inmates are not given work according to their criminal offenses. Inmates are not supposed to be discriminated according to the intensity of their criminal offenses.
In March 2007, a prisoner by the name Jason Brannigan in the fire camps delayed returning his tray after 2 to 3 minutes which is the time allocated for eating meals, guards sprayed him with pepper directly to his eyes then pushed him out through the unit naked. "They are walking me on the chain, and I felt just like a slave again" (Goodman, 2014). This man is black, and he relates his color to what he was experiencing at that moment which is exploitation of prisoners in connection with their race (Goodman, 2014). Moreover, these officers did not have respect to this prisoner which they are supposed to exercise as a policy. This I just an example of Racism that goes on in fire camps which do not contribute to making the prisoners better people in society but instead it is oppressing them.
Prisoners do not have authorized protections that all other workers enjoy. They are not given a chance to unionize, yet they are working for the public like any other servant. Minimum wage laws do not cover them, and even the small wages they earn can get cut by the prison. If by any chance they are hurt or die in the line of duty, they do not get any compensation since they are not covered . Additionally, their capability to recover their damages in any court of law is difficult. All these factors brought together make inmates a defenseless workforce (Fathi, 2018). When we look at all these problems and the rights these people are deprived of, you wonder whether by any chance they become less human beings once they are imprisoned. The treatment they receive is unacceptable in the name of helping them (Ogden, 2005). They trade their freedom of being away from confined prisons for worthless risk of their lives (Wheeler & Mohle-Boetani, 2015).
No Californian prisoner is forced to come out to fight fires: they volunteer for this tasks. But when you consider the prison's environment, you find that in the real sense it is through force that they fight those fires. Therefore, it is disapprovingly beneficial to make sure that prisoners who choose to work are making a free choice and a choice that they are fully aware of the risks and dangers of the job they agree to engage in.
At least two inmate firefighters lost their lives in work-related accidents in California last year. In 1990, six prisoners died in the line of duty, and one died in Arizona. More than the immediate perils, fire-fighters are exposed to high risk of suffering from connected respiratory diseases. Due to these dangers, they are supposed to get access to insurance that will cover them in case they experience any health problems while they are working.
Fathi, a director of National prison project, says that prison labor gives rise to many concerns more than prisoner's physical health and wellbeing. He says that employees will naturally be pleased by the vision of a uniquely docile, powerless and slave labor. The prison labor force would undercut workers who are not confined. If we are not going to take caution, prisoners will take the position of free workers and underestimate workers' rights at large (Fathi 2018).
\
References
Chernin, Milton. (1980). Convict Road Work in California. Political Science, University of California, Berkeley.
Fathi D, (2018) ACLU. Prisoner are getting paid $1.45 a day to fight the California wildfires. Retrieved from https://www.aclu.org/blog/prisoners-rights/prisoners-are-getting-paid-145-day-fight-california-wildfires
Gilmore, R. W. (2007). Golden Gulag: Prisons, surplus, crisis, and opposition in globalizing California (Vol. 21). Univ of California Press.
Goodman, P. (2012). Another Second Chance: Rethinking Rehabilitation through the Lens of California's Prison Fire Camps. Social Problems, 59 (4), 437-458.
Goodman, P. (2012). Hero and Inmate: Work, Prisons, and Punishment in California's Fire Camps. WorkingUSA, 15 (3), 353-376.
Goodman, P. (2014). Race in California's prison fire camps for men: Prison politics, space, and the racialization of everyday life. American Journal of Sociology, 120 (2), 352-394.
Mark Gladstone. (n.d.). Sergeants, Lieutenants at California Prisons Also Earn More Than $100,000 . San Jose Mercury News (CA).
Neklason, A. (2017). The Presence of Justice. California is running out of inmates to fight its fires. Retrieved from https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2017/12/how-much-longer-will-inmates-fight-californias-wildfires/547628/
Ogden, S. (2005). The prison-industrial complex in Indigenous California. Global Lockdown: Race, Gender, and the Prison-Industrial Complex, 57-65.
Pappagianis, D. (2007). Coccidioidomycosis in California state correctional institutions. Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences, 1111 (1), 103-111.
Pont, J. (2008). Ethics in research involving prisoners. International journal of prisoner health, 4(4), 184-197.
Smith, E., & Hattery, A. J. (2008). Incarceration: A tool for racial segregation and labor exploitation. Race, Gender & Class, 79-97.
Wheeler, C., Lucas, K. D., & Mohle-Boetani, J. C. (2015). Rates and risk factors for Coccidioidomycosis among prison inmates, California, USA, 2011. Emerging Infectious Diseases, 21(1), 70–75.
Zoukis, C. (2011). Prison Education Guide. California's Behaviour Modification Programs-abuse of prisoners' racism and cover-ups.
