Article 1 Section 19 of the Indiana Constitution mandates that the penal code shall be grounded upon the principles of reformation and not vindictive justice. But what happens when those tasked with creating the laws necessary to make reformation possible choose to systematically undermine them? Let’s take it a step further. What happens when those duly elected to construct and uphold the law are knowingly complicit in the willful violation of federal law? What message does that send to the men and women seeking rehabilitation, their families, and society at large?
In May of 2013 the Indiana legislature demonstrated their contempt and disregard for the law with its passage of House Enrolled Act 1334. ATA 1334 specifically prevents inmates from challenging IDOC’s systematic theft of wages guaranteed under federal law. The legislature’s coordination with DOC’s racketeering activities demonstrate the true spirit of the Thirteenth Amendment and lawmakers’ complicity in the economically motivated enslavement of Indiana’s incarcerated.
Arvinmeritor operates the brake shop at the Correctional Industrial Facility (CIF). The brake shop is known as a joint venture program, a collaboration between IDOC’s Indiana Correctional Industries and a private business or organization. Any inmate who has ever been housed at CIF knows the brake shop is the very epitome of a sweatshop. Inmates work 10 to 12 hour days manually refurbishing brake shoes for 45 to 55 cents an hour. It is arduous, injury-prone work, where if you’re not promptly incapacitated, the carcinogenic brake dust inhaled on a daily basis will do you in later.
Many inmates are forced to work there either to pay a 90-day time cut in exchange for 2 years of labor or for the 70 to one hundred dollar a month income which barely covers an inmate’s expenses. When there is a shortage of brake shop workers, CIF officials randomly sign inmates up. Those unlucky enough to have to face the draft have two choices. Work, or receive a major conduct report.
As a participant in Indiana Correctional Industries’ joint venture program, federal law mandates any inmates employed through joint venture programs receive prevailing wage for their labor. See Title 18 United States Code 1761 subsection c. Indiana lawmakers acknowledge this requirement in Indiana Code 11-10-7-3, “Offender compensation,” which states any agreement entered into between the Commissioner and a private person under this chapter must provide that an offender employed by a private person under this chapter will be paid at least the prevailing wage for that type of work as established by the Department of Workforce Development including applicable wage increases for overtime work. IDOC administrative and operational policies further acknowledge these federal and state directives. Despite the above referenced laws the highest paid brake shop worker makes just north of a dollar per hour. The prevailing wage for brake refurbishers in Indiana is north of $11 per hour.
In 2013 CIF inmates Chuck Adams and Charles Howard refused to be robbed a moment longer. Together they filed an action in court seeking compensation for their stolen wages under Title 22 of the then Indiana Code. When caught with their hand in the proverbial cookie jar, both IDOC and Arvinmeritor scrambled but Adams and Howard had the law squarely on their side. With no viable counter argument, lawyers for the two agencies searched for technicalities to thwart Adams and Howard’s fight for redress. DOC officials understood if they lost the case, it would open the floodgates for many similar legal actions resulting in millions of dollars of lost profit. Most importantly, it would signal the end of that form of economic exploitation of Indiana prisoners.
At the directions of DOC officials, state representative [Jeff] Thompson authored ATA 1334, which was introduced in an emergency session. ATA 1334 precluded Indiana inmates from filing legal actions challenging IDOC’s blatant violation of Indiana state wage compensation. With full knowledge of its illegal nature it passed both house and senate and was signed into law by the Governor on May 9 ,2013. It is incontrovertible that this law was meant to eliminate any legal remedies for inmates to obtain legal relief for the systematic embezzlement of their hard earned wages.
After a protracted legal battle, the Indiana Supreme Court defeated Adams’ action on a manufactured technicality. It ruled Adams did not have a private right of action to seek relief. In layman’s terms, they were saying even though the law governing wage compensation was enacted to benefit those subject to Indiana law, because the statute didn’t specifically state inmates could use it to obtain relief that it didn’t apply to them. The decision defies logic. It was demoralizing to inmates department wide. The decision signaled that while the law could be used to tear prisoners’ lives apart it wasn’t applicable in helping them put it back together. It demonstrated that the corporations benefiting from DOC’s joint venture partnerships are the legislature’s true constituencies and that the law wasn’t meant to benefit the inmates making an honest living for their struggling families.
Many inmates view Adams’ attempt as futile. It reinforced feelings of hopelessness in the face of a seemingly powerful foe. Despite the dismissal of this legal action, his case was a resounding success. He didn’t succeed at obtaining his hard-earned wages but he did succeed in forcing the boogeyman into the light. He exposed the prison industrial complex, its lawlessness and propensity for deceit. He exposed the depth of complicity in the economic exploitation of the incarcerated by the highest chambers of Indiana government within all three branches. The executive, legislature, and judiciary. So much for checks and balances.
I had the pleasure of meeting Chuck Adams at Wabash Valley in 2015. He had a shock of white hair and a manicured white beard. He reminded me of a trim Santa Clause, though his blue eyes were not jovial. They held a quiet strength, the strength of a fighter. In 2013 he essentially co-opted their system and weaponized it against them. Battles are not always about obtaining instant victory. Sometimes battles are meant to expose the enemy’s strengths and weaknesses. The court is the DOC’s achilles heel.