Incarcerated individuals throughout Alabama’s prison system are forced into involuntary servitude. Six incarcerated workers, represented by the Center for Constitutional Rights through its Southern Regional Office, are bringing a lawsuit against Alabama Governor Kay Ivey and Alabama Department of Corrections (ADOC) Commissioner John Hamm to abolish involuntary servitude in the state’s prisons. They are asking a state court to declare that recently enacted state laws and policies violate the revised Alabama state constitution, which, as of 2022, makes slavery and involuntary servitude illegal in prison.
The labor of incarcerated individuals throughout ADOC prisons is essential to the maintenance of the facilities. They are forced to carry out many jobs within the prison for little to no pay as well as labor for other state entities and private employers, also for little pay and often under unsafe working conditions. The present-day treatment of our clients incarcerated in ADOC facilities is tied to the ongoing legacy of chattel slavery and the Jim Crow practices that seek to exploit, dehumanize, and control Black people for their labor.
This lawsuit shares each of our clients’ experiences as incarcerated workers subject to ADOC’s systemic policy and practice of forced labor and involuntary servitude. Here are their stories.
Traveka Stanley
Traveka Stanley is a 32-year-old Black woman from Camp Hill, Alabama. Ms. Stanley is currently incarcerated at Montgomery Women’s Facility in Montgomery, Alabama. She has been imprisoned for ten and a half years in total. Ms. Stanley dreams of spending time with her nieces and nephews and opening a sports bar and grill when she is released from prison.
On or about February 16, 2022, ADOC issued Ms. Stanley a behavior citation for “refusing to work/failing to check out for work.” She was a few minutes late reporting to the van to transport her to her job at Paramount Services, Incorporated. ADOC punished Ms. Stanley with a 14-day loss of canteen, telephone, and visitation privileges.
On or about August 19, 2023, Ms. Stanley was scheduled to work a 2:00 p.m. to 10:00 p.m. shift at Burger King, a change from Ms. Stanley’s usual schedule, which began at 10:00 a.m. As a result, Ms. Stanley did not report to the van to transport her to Burger King in time for a 10:00 a.m. shift because she would have arrived nearly four hours early. In response, ADOC issued Ms. Stanley a behavior citation for “refusing to work/failing to check out for work.” ADOC punished Ms. Stanley with seven days' extra work duty, and seven days' loss of canteen, telephone, and visitation privileges.
On April 22, 2024, ADOC later issued Ms. Stanley a disciplinary report for “failure to obey a direct order of an ADOC employee” when she did not wake up and report for work on the trash detail at Julia Tutwiler Prison for Women when called by an officer. On April 25, 2024, Ms. Stanley was transferred to Montgomery Women’s Facility.
“I am motivated by my passion to fight for an end to all injustice. That passion burns brighter than my fears. We must stand for something, or we will fall for anything. This lawsuit is about the unpaid, overbearing state jobs that I, as well as my fellow inmates, are being forced to work against our will. According to Article I, Section 32, this is against the law.” — Traveka Stanley
Reginald Burrell
Reginald Burrell is a 44-year-old Black man from Mobile, Alabama. Mr. Burrell is currently incarcerated at Decatur Work Release in Decatur, Alabama, and works as a line cook at Applebee’s restaurant in Athens, Alabama. He has been imprisoned for approximately 22 years. He enjoys welding and is a trained and certified Class A welder. Mr. Burrell is devoted to caring for his mother, whom he has supported during his incarceration and plans to support upon release.
In February 2022, ADOC issued Mr. Burrell a behavior citation for “refusing to work/failing to check out for work” after he refused to continue working at Kith Furniture due to unsafe working conditions. ADOC punished Mr. Burrell with 30 days' extra work duty, for which he was not paid, and a 20-day loss of telephone and visitation privileges.
In October 2022, ADOC issued Mr. Burrell a disciplinary report for “inciting a riot” after he refused to go to Bibb County Correctional Facility to work in the kitchen for no pay during an ADOC-wide work stoppage.
“The most influential public officials in the State of Alabama today remain loyal to and act in unity with their racist slave legacy from the Confederacy and the Jim Crow era, continuing to deliberately make, enforce, and defend bad policy decisions and practices, knowing it results in the demise, disadvantages, and disenfranchisement of poor whites and African-Americans, perpetuating hopelessness, despair, and excessive suffering in our lives today, and knowing it induces, in many circumstances, desperate choices under duress, to give themselves reason to enslave us through incarceration by the Alabama Department of Corrections for the sole purpose of continuing forced labor, slavery, and involuntary servitude in this state.” — Reginald Burrell
Dexter Avery
Dexter Avery was a 44-year-old Black man from Birmingham, Alabama. Mr. Avery was incarcerated at Red Eagle Community Work Center in Montgomery, Alabama. He was incarcerated for nearly three years.
On or about April 20, 2023, while he was incarcerated at Hamilton Work Release, ADOC issued Mr. Avery a behavior citation for Rule Violation 319 “being fired from a job” after he was fired from his job at Bathware. ADOC punished Mr. Avery with 30 days' loss of passes to visit family in the free world, a privilege uniquely available to people in work release; 25 days' loss of telephone and visitation privileges; and 20 days of extra duty, for one to two hours per day, consisting of cleaning the yard and dorms, washing vans, and mowing grass.
On or about August 31, 2023, Mr. Avery fell asleep as an effect of prescribed medication on the transport van to his work release job, and, as a result, did not get off the van when he was supposed to. In September 2023, ADOC found Mr. Avery guilty of “refusal to work” in disciplinary proceedings and punished him with 45 days' loss of phone, visitation, and canteen privileges and a transfer from Hamilton Work Release to Limestone Correctional Facility. Mr. Avery was not provided notice of his disciplinary hearing.
Update: Dexter Avery, who was part of the original group that filed the lawsuit, died in ADOC custody on August 19, 2024. His was one of over 150 deaths in ADOC custody during the 2024 state fiscal year.
Charlie Gray
Charlie Gray is a 46-year-old Black man from Ensley, Alabama. Mr. Gray is currently incarcerated at Frank Lee Community-Based Facility/Community Work Center in Deatsville, Alabama, where he works without pay as a dorm cleaner. He has been imprisoned for nearly 17 years.
Before transferring to Frank Lee in late March or early April 2024, Mr. Gray was incarcerated at Donaldson Correctional Facility, where he was assigned to work without pay and protective equipment on the trash crew, handling hazardous waste. While on the trash crew, Mr. Gray worked three to four hours daily. Mr. Gray stopped going to work at Donaldson, and ADOC officers threatened to issue him a disciplinary report for refusing to work. Mr. Gray even started skipping meal times to avoid officers who might discipline him for refusing to work by delaying his anticipated transfer to an ADOC community work center or work release, sending him to solitary, or denying him visitation, commissary, or phone privileges.
Melvin Pringle
Melvin Pringle is a 50-year-old Black man from Bibb County, Alabama. Mr. Pringle is currently incarcerated at Elba Community Work Center in Elba, Alabama. He has been imprisoned for nearly 25 years. Mr. Pringle hopes to spend time with his grandchild and travel upon release from prison.
ADOC has punished Mr. Pringle for “refusing to check out for work” or “being fired from a job” multiple times since the adoption of the 2022 Alabama Constitution. On or about November 30, 2022, ADOC found Mr. Pringle guilty of “refusing to check out for work” after refusing to work at Bama Budweiser because it paid so little. ADOC punished Mr. Pringle with 30 days of extra duty, at two hours per day, and 30 days' loss of visitation, phone, and commissary access.
On or about August 24, 2023, Mr. Pringle received a behavior citation for “being fired from a job.” He had been fired from his job at Dorsey Trailers after he complained to his employer about issues with his pay, specifically that he had not received bonuses to which he believed he was entitled. ADOC punished Mr. Pringle for this behavior citation with 30 days of extra duty, at two hours per day, and 30 days' loss of visitation, phone, and commissary access.
On or about February 24, 2024, Mr. Pringle received a disciplinary report for “being fired from a job.” ADOC found him guilty and punished him with approximately 30 days' extra duty and approximately 30 days' loss of visitation, phone, and commissary access.
Mr. Pringle also suffers a unique form of punishment for refusal to work at Elba Work Release. At Elba, ADOC officials have instituted a point system, whereby incarcerated individuals can earn points by performing extra duty within the facility for no pay. Under this point system, Mr. Pringle has refused to work for ADOC for free and has been punished for doing so by being denied visitation and passes.
Ranquel Smith
Ranquel Smith is a 26-year-old Black man from Tuscaloosa, Alabama. Mr. Smith is currently incarcerated at Elmore Correctional Facility in Elmore, Alabama. He has been imprisoned for approximately 3 years. Mr. Smith received a welding certification during his incarceration and wants to be a welder when he is released from prison.
On or about September 7, 2022, ADOC issued Mr. Smith a disciplinary for “refusing to work/failing to check out for work”. ADOC punished him by taking away one day of good time, with loss of free-world work, commissary, and visitation privileges, and with assignment to extra duty.
On or about November 23, 2022, ADOC issued Mr. Smith a disciplinary for “refusing to work/failing to check out for work” because he was a few minutes late reporting to the van to transport him to work. ADOC punished him by taking away one day of good time away, with loss of free-world work, commissary, and visitation privileges, and with assignment to extra duty.
“Being at work release can get stressful sometimes. I fully understand that at work release you get a little freedom, such as working a free world job, taking home passes, and much more, but all that can be taken away so fast by refusing to work a job that's not fit for you or not in your best interest. You will receive a disciplinary write-up and/or have good time taken away. To me, that's not being treated fairly at all.” – Ranquel Smith