Judge Rules Colorado Prison Labor Laws Unconstitutional After Inmates Detail Coercion

Lawsuit Challenges Post-Amendment A Policies

DENVER — A Denver judge has ruled that Colorado prison officials violated the state constitution by forcing incarcerated people to work under threat of punishment, siding with two men who described losing earned time and facing isolation for refusing kitchen jobs during a COVID-19 outbreak.

Denver District Court Judge Sarah B. Wallace found that the Colorado Department of Corrections and Gov. Jared Polis violated Article II, Section 26 of the Colorado Constitution, which bans slavery and involuntary servitude without exception. Colorado voters removed a prior exception for people convicted of crimes when they passed Amendment A in 2018.

The class action complaint was filed in February 2022 by Richard Lilgerose and Harold Mortis. They sued Polis, former CDOC Executive Director Dean Williams and the department itself, seeking to block enforcement of state laws and prison rules that require incarcerated people to work.

The lawsuit targeted two state statutes — §§ 17-20-115 and 17-20-117 — and a corrections regulation known as AR 850-03. One statute states that people confined in state correctional facilities “shall perform labor." Another requires that “[e]very able-bodied inmate shall be put to and kept at the work most suitable."

The regulation provides that “[a]ll eligible offenders are required to work” and warns of consequences for refusing, including restricted privileges and loss of earned time. The plaintiffs argued those mandates became unconstitutional after Amendment A removed the so-called penal exemption from the state constitution.

Allegations of Lost Time and Isolation

The complaint details how prison officials enforced work assignments through threats of longer incarceration and harsher living conditions. Under prison rules, refusing to work can result in disciplinary charges and the loss of “good time” or “earned time,” which affect parole eligibility.

Mortis, 32, is serving a 40-year sentence at Fremont Correctional Facility. In late 2020, after contracting COVID-19 and while still experiencing symptoms, he was ordered to work eight-hour shifts in the prison kitchen during a staff shortage. He said he feared further illness because he has asthma.

When he declined, officials warned he could be removed from his incentive housing unit and lose earned time. He later lost two days of earned time, according to the complaint. After filing grievances that were denied, he returned to work, saying he felt compelled to do so to avoid further punishment.

Lilgerose, 45, is serving an 80-year sentence at the same facility. He suffers from post-traumatic stress disorder and lingering COVID-19 symptoms, the complaint states. Assigned to food service, he was required to work long hours for 80 cents per day.

After he stopped working, officials deducted four days of earned time and removed him from his incentive housing unit. A grievance response told him that work remained required under state law. He eventually returned to his job, citing fear of further discipline.

The complaint also describes “Restricted Privilege” status, which can require people to spend up to 21 hours a day in their cells and limits phone calls and visits. Plaintiffs argued those conditions amounted to coercion.

Class Action and Relief Sought

Judge Wallace agreed that the state’s policies violated the constitution. The order directs prison officials to cease practices that compel labor through threats of segregation, isolation or loss of time credits.

Polis’ office and the Department of Corrections had previously declined to comment while the case was pending.