Here are the morning’s top stories on Monday, October 14, 2024…
- Proposition 6 on the November ballot aims to get rid of “involuntary servitude” for people in prison. You might know that some of these folks fight wildfires, but people who are in prison also do jobs as varied as cooking and making furniture, and usually they’re paid pennies an hour.
- The nonprofit California Fire Foundation has expanded its memorial wall, which honors fallen firefighters, at the State Capitol.
- Cows in the Central Valley are dying so quickly from bird flu that they’re overwhelming standard protocols for getting rid of carcasses. KVPR obtained photos of dead cattle piled up out in the open near a dairy farm in Tulare County.
Proposition 6 Would End Forced Labor In Prisons
The End Slavery in California Act, on November’s ballot as Proposition 6, would amend the state constitution that allows forced labor as a punishment for a crime.
Prop 6 was originally introduced in 2020, but the bill died in the California State Senate a few years later partially due to a discussion around the proposition shifted to paying incarcerated people a minimum wage. It’s possible that if Prop 6 eliminates forced labor, renewed discussions will emerge around incarcerated people making more money. Most people incarcerated in California make less than 74 cents per hour working jobs from clerks to painters. Many provide free labor used to produce goods for more than 4,100 companies. One of the highest paying prison jobs, firefighter, makes between $6 and $10 a day.
Prop 6 is backed by more than 30 organizations including the ACLU of California and the California Teachers Association. California is one of the 16 states that allow involuntary servitude in prisons. The one group opposing the measure is the Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association, which advocates for lower taxes.
Firefighter Memorial Expands In Sacramento
The California Fire Foundation, the non-profit that assists families of fallen firefighters, firefighters, and the communities they protect, has expanded its memorial wall in Sacramento.