Will California End Forced Prison Labor?

Nov 1, 2024

There are two initiatives on California鈥檚 ballot this November dealing with the prison-industrial complex: would worsen penalties for petty crimes, increasing the prison population and reversing more than a decade of decarceration efforts; would end forced slavery inside California prisons.

Prison abolitionists are calling for a 鈥淣o鈥� vote on Prop. 36 and a 鈥淵es鈥� vote on Prop. 6. With little public education on the propositions, polls show the reverse outcome is likely.

Dortell Williams, who is serving a life sentence without parole at Mule Creek State Prison in California, spoke with 大象传媒 Senior Editor Sonali Kolhatkar on 大象传媒 Presents: Rising Up With Sonali about Prop. 6, putting it in a national and historical context and discussing how it could close a 鈥渇orced labor loophole鈥� in the state.

Sonali Kolhatkar joined 大象传媒 in summer 2021, building on a long and decorated career in broadcast and print journalism. She is an award-winning multimedia journalist, and host and creator of聽大象传媒 Presents: Rising Up with Sonali, a nationally syndicated television and radio program airing on Free Speech TV and dozens of independent and community radio stations. She is also Senior Correspondent with the Independent Media Institute鈥檚 Economy for All project where she writes a weekly column. She is the author of聽Rising Up: The Power of Narrative in Pursuing Racial Justice聽(2023) and聽Bleeding Afghanistan: Washington, Warlords, and the Propaganda of Silence聽(2005). Her forthcoming book is called聽Talking About Abolition聽(Seven Stories Press, 2025). Sonali is co-director of the nonprofit group, Afghan Women鈥檚 Mission which she helped to co-found in 2000. She has a Master鈥檚 in Astronomy from the University of Hawai鈥檌, and two undergraduate degrees in Physics and Astronomy from the University of Texas at Austin. Sonali reflects on 鈥淢y Journey From Astrophysicist to Radio Host鈥� in her 2014聽聽of the same name.