USA: County should ensure fair pay for incarcerated workers after California Supreme Court decision, ACLU says
"ACLU Responds to California Supreme Court Ruling on Minimum Wage for Incarcerated Workers," 22 April 2024
The California Supreme Court ruled today that the state’s minimum wage law does not apply to people working for private companies while they are held in pretrial detention in California’s jails. The lawsuit,Ruelas v. County of Alameda, was brought by people incarcerated at the Santa Rita Jail in Alameda County who worked without compensation for Aramark...
...The court’s decision... makes clear that the California legislature has the ability to pass laws to protect incarcerated workers in county jails. The decision also gives discretion to counties and private companies to choose to compensate incarcerated workers.
“The California Supreme Court recognized the severe economic burdens the people incarcerated in county jails face from an exploitative system,” said Kyle Virgien, senior staff attorney at the ACLU’s National Prison Project. “It’s now up to Alameda County to do the right thing and ensure that when corporations profit from the labor of people incarcerated in the Alameda County Jail, they pay for that labor.”...