Gov. Polis Faces Lawsuit Alleging Forced Labor Continues in State Prisons

By Allie Jennejahn | Denver7

Does slavery still exist in Colorado? That's the question a class action lawsuit heading to trial Tuesday is looking to answer.

DENVER — Does slavery still exist in Colorado? That’s the question a class action lawsuit heading to trial Tuesday is looking to answer.

It’s against Governor Jared Polis and the Colorado Department of Corrections (DOC), and it’s focused specifically on forced labor in prisons.

It goes back to the 13th Amendment which has a clause that states, “Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, except as a punishment for crime whereof the party shall have been duly convicted, shall exist within the United States.”

That clause has previously allowed forced labor in prisons, but in 2018, Colorado voters amended the state’s constitution making slavery, or forced labor, illegal with no exceptions.

Sarah Beaudoin spent 18-and-a-half years in prison and said nothing has changed.

“If you don’t go to work today, you will get restricted privileges, loss of privileges, or you will go to the hole. Those are the options,” said Beaudoin.

She’s not incarcerated anymore, but she’s still trying to navigate how to take a sick day.

“If I know I have to be at work, I have to be at work. I have recently started to challenge myself and leave early from work,” she said.

That’s because she said in prison, being sick never mattered.

Stephanie McGuffie, who has an incarcerated son, agreed. She’s frustrated because if he gets punished, the family feels like they do, too.

“I need to put my eyes on my child,” McGuffie explained. “Is he thin? Is he frail? Has he eaten? You know, I need to be able to touch him and ask these questions.”

When Colorado passed Amendment A, it became the first state in modern history to end the 13th Amendment’s exception clause. Rhode Island banned slavery without exception in 1842. At least five other states have made the same ban including Utah, Nebraska, Alabama, Oregon and Vermont.

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