Denver Post Letters to the Editor
Re: "Inmates may step in as farmworkers," Feb. 28 news story. I don't anticipate much incentive for comprehensive criminal justice reform if prisoners continue to be a source of virtually free labor. Let's face it, this "pilot" program is not about providing inmates with job skills; it's about increasing the profits for corporate America. Replacing immigrant farm workers with "slave" labor is no answer to some of the most pressing issues facing Colorado: comprehensive immigration reform and curbing the ballooning prison population. Without the right to organize for humane and fair working conditions, prisoners are especially vulnerable to exploitation by corporations. I challenge our policymakers to take the profits out of prisons and create true opportunities for rehabilitation. Crystal Middlestadt, Denver Long ago, when former Colorado Attorney General Gale Norton had the idea to put inmates to work on chain gangs, I thought that maybe the government wants to incarcerate more people in order to create a cheap labor force. It seems that this idea has been revived by state Rep. Dorothy Butcher, D-Pueblo, and endorsed by Department of Corrections director Ari Zavaras to provide cheap labor for farmers who find it harder to employ undocumented workers. John Cleveland, Centennial Re: "Benefits of inmate farm labor," March 1 editorial. Slavery was abolished in the U.S. by the 13th Amendment. Nevertheless, The Denver Post appears to support the use of slave labor to fill a shortage of farmworkers in Colorado. Your editorial paints a rosy picture of reduced recidivism and increased job skills for inmates. However, inmates would perform backbreaking labor in hot, potentially dangerous conditions for a couple of dollars a day, at most. Colorado's agricultural sector depends upon immigrant labor. Rather than criminalize the hard-working farmworkers, we should recognize their efforts by supporting AgJOBS, which would create a stable, legal supply of labor for agriculture and provide temporary residency and a path to legalization for immigrant farmworkers. We should pay a living wage and offer benefits to the people who prepare and harvest our food. David Strauss, Executive Director, Association of Farmworker Opportunity Programs, Washington, D.C.
1 comment:
This farm labor situation could be turned into a win/win situation. Yes, use the inmates for the farm work and let them learn a trade but at the same time pay them a fair wage and then many of them in turn can pay their child support eliminating some welfare so why not make it a win/win. Don't resort to slave labor these people are human beings. There are many of them that can be reformed or have learned from their mistakes. Help make them feel better about themselves and maybe the recidivism rate would drop.
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