A recent ruling by the Washington state Supreme Court that banned private businesses from using inmate labor in operations based at state prisons has reinvigorated a longtime debate about the fairness and value of prison-based industries.


The courts decision had little practical effect here because one of the two remaining private companies that were using inmate labor at the states Airway Heights Corrections Center left the prison this spring, and the other was preparing to leave before the ruling came down in May.


The Washington state Supreme Court has agreed to reconsider its ruling after the state requested the court consider some facts that were not presented in the case, says Howard Yarbrough, administrator of the states Correctional Industries.


We have our fingers crossed, Yarbrough says. We dont know whats going to happen, or when it will happen.


Still, the issue of private businesses paying prisoners to make their products at the institutions and of the Department of Corrections using inmates to make goods for state use that compete directly with products made by the private sectorremains a polarizing topic.


Even losing one job to an inmate is unacceptable, says Dan Houk, president of Spokane-based Wilbert Precast Inc., which makes concrete products. The people who are there (in prison) are the same ones who may have robbed the person that lost their job because of the prison labor programs.


For many decades, the Department of Corrections has operated a form of what it now calls the Correctional Industries program, which allows inmates to work at jobs within a prison. Until recently, the program included three categories: Class 1, in which private companies set up operations inside a prison and employ inmates; Class 2, in which the state employs inmates to make products for its own use and for sale to nonprofits; and Class 3, in which inmates get paid for doing menial jobs to support the prison.


The 20-year-old Class 1 program was derailed by the court decision, which held that the use of inmate labor by private companies isnt consistent with the states constitution. The case was brought by a metal workers union.


The Class 1 program, through which about 300 inmates were working for nine different companies across the state, is now being terminated. Inmates were paid a market wage by those businesses, up to about $14 an hour, though portions of their pay were withheld by the state for incarceration fees and to compensate their victims.


Mixed reactions


The ruling brought mixed reactions.


We had argued (as a friend of the court) that the situation with the prison industries had gotten out of control, says Washington state Labor Council spokeswoman Karen Keiser. It was unfair competition, and it was taking jobs out of the private sector. We were very pleased with the ruling.


The Department of Corrections was disappointed with the ruling.


This is good public policy to have this program, Yarbrough says. Its too bad we lost the case. The impact is significant.


The Washington state Labor Council says the Class 1 program gave an unfair advantage to the private companies that used it because the state provided free rent to such enterprises, supplied them with a willing work force, gave them security services, and didnt require them to provide health-care benefits to the inmates.


The rulings shelving of the Class 1 programs didnt satisfy Wilbert Precasts Houk. He has been a longtime critic of the Class 2 program, which he contends puts the state in the position of competing with private businesses, by using inmate labor to make products that the state otherwise would buy commercially.


He says he won a hard fought battle against the Department of Corrections in the 1980s after the state started using inmate labor to manufacture some of the same products Wilbert Precast had been selling to other state agencies.


They undercut my costs and took away one of my best customers, he says. I raised enough waves that they quit doing it.


Challenging the state was near impossible, Houk says. His letter-writing campaign went as high as then-President Ronald Reagan.


The frustrating part is that they have the whole weight of the Washington state government, Houk says of Correctional Industries. They put together beautiful catalogs and had telemarketers that were really slick. They have the lawyers if you try and fight them too.


The Department of Corrections contends all of the prison labor programs are worthwhile.


The prison labor programs are critical to reforming inmates, says Yarbrough.


Yarbrough says the programs keep prisoners busy, and motivate them to behave, and provide them with skills they can use when theyre released.


Ninety-seven percent of adult offenders are coming back into the community, he says. Theyre going to need to make a living, get job training, and have a good work ethic.


A state study showed that inmates enrolled in the work programs have lower levels of recidivism within three years of leaving the prison than those who dont participate, Yarbrough says.


Its about 17 percent compared with 24 percent of those who arent in the programs, he says.


He adds, The question is, What as a community are we going to do to break the cycle? of repeat offenders. I believe its a good program for that.


Yarbrough also argues that the Correctional Industries programs produce relatively small revenues.


Its a drop in the bucket really, he says. We have 34 businesses and there are about 360,000 companies in Washington.


Houk believes the state shouldnt be in business at all.


I realize the dilemma, he says. The prisons are instructed to reform these people. I think they need classroom instruction. They could make concrete casts and then demolish them.


Omega Pacific Inc., a Spokane manufacturer of climbing equipment, had employed through the Class 1 program about 60 inmates at the Airway Heights Corrections Center here, where it operated its manufacturing plant for about nine years. It moved those operations to a new location last month, not because of the court ruling, but because it wanted to consolidate its operations in one location.


It had maintained separate office space at 8003 W. Sunset Highway. Its new location, with both manufacturing and office space, is at 11427 W. 21st, in Airway Heights.


The company denies it was given a free ride while operating in the prison.


We took flak for a long time over our involvement in the program, Omega Pacific owner and President Bert Atwater said after the ruling. Many of our critics claimed we exploited some unfair business advantage, but I challenge them to show me just where it was. We didnt get any breaks in labor rates or wages, and security issues and tool counts ate up our rent allowance.


Another business here, Concrete Works Statuary Inc., of Spokane Valley, had employed about 15 inmates at the West Plains prison to make concrete statutes and other lawn dcor. That company also moved out of the prison this spring, to the Spokane Business & Industrial Park, because not all of the manufacturing work for its products could be done inside the prison, and because its inmate workers couldnt leave the prison to finish those tasks, says Laura Grenz, who owns the company with her husband, Curtiss.


We planned on getting out before it (the Supreme Court ruling) happened, she says. The decision didnt affect us.


Grenz declines to discuss the controversy surrounding inmate labor, except to say, There is a lot of give and take. Its not all sweet, believe me.


Cals Mobile Upholstery, a Spokane Upholstery service and furniture maker, left the prison about three years ago. No representative of that company could be reached for comment for this story.


Prison programs


The Department of Corrections launched Correctional Industries to motivate inmates, to teach them skills, and to generate revenue for the prison system and for inmates crime victims.


Jobs are one way to keep offenders busy and give them skills to survive on the outside, says Risa Klemme, Airway Heights Corrections Centers administrative program manager. Many of them dont know what its like to get up and go to work every day.


Over the years, about 40 private businesses have used inmate labor in the Class 1 program. The high-water mark came in 1999, when 17 companies participated in the program at one time.


Inmate wages in the Class 1 program last year totaled about $3.2 million, says Yarbrough.


Inmates are required to have 5 percent of their wages go to crime victims, he says. I dont know where that money is going to be made up.


The Department of Corrections hasnt kept track of the total number of inmates who have worked in its prison labor programs over the years. We dont know for sure, but its in the thousands, Yarbrough says.


Correctional Industries says the state will lose about $600,000 in cost of incarceration funds because of the Supreme Court ruling. Its not clear how it will offset that loss, Yarbrough says.


There are a couple of ways to do that, He says. One is to increase our business from the Class 2 work programs, and sell more goods and services to government agencies and nonprofits, and in order to do that we would have to generate $2 million in additional sales revenue.


Yarbrough says the other way to make up the difference is to ask the state for more money. The chances are slim due to the conditions of the states finances that additional money would be forthcoming, he says.


The departments Class 2 program makes a myriad of products that are sold to other state agencies and to nonprofits, including meals for state-run institutions and office furniture. It employs about 1,350 inmates in the 34 separate state-owned ventures across the state, and generated $39 million in revenue last year, says Yarbrough. The funds are used to defray prison costs, as well as to make restitution to crime victims.


The Class 3 program has about 7,000 inmates statewide, who are paid about 30 cents an hour to perform such tasks as cleaning prisons and cooking.


Airway Heights


At the Airway Heights prison, which has about 2,000 minimum- and medium-security prisoners, Correctional Industries now will operate just Class 2 and Class 3 programs.


It has about 300 inmates in the Class 2 program, working in whats called a Food Factory, in an optical lab, and in a bindery.


The Food Factory, where 160 inmates work, makes pre-packaged meals and other food for other prisons and jails, says Klemme. The prisons optical lab employs about 50 inmates, and produces eyeglasses that are sold to state agencies and nonprofit organizations, including the state Department of Social and Health Services. Many of the glasses go to low-income individuals and inmates. The bindery, which employs about 70 inmates, makes boxes, coffee cups, and other products for use by various state agencies. A number of other inmates perform miscellaneous Class 2 jobs.


Inmates have to be model prisoners to get the Class 2 program jobs, says Klemme.


Its a big cookie and stick, she says. To get those jobs they have to demonstrate absolute excellent behavior. That means showing up to work on time and doing a good job. It also means they have to be perfect when theyre not working.


There are about 624 inmates in the Class 3 program. Their jobs include prison maintenance, such as plumbing and painting, and performing services, such as doing laundry and delivering the mail.


Social responsibilities


Omega Pacifics Atwater says the Class 1 program benefited society because inmates gained self-esteem, learned job skills that they could use later, and earned money for their families.


Besides learning how to become metal workers, machine operators, clerks, and assemblers, these men were able to remain a viable and integral part of the lives of their families on the outside, Atwater said. Most of them sent money home every month to help maintain what they left behind. It helped them to have something they could look forward to when they were released.


Its really too bad, to tell you the truth, he said. This program is the single most effective form of prison rehabilitation in the history of the United States prison system. A few shortsighted individuals never understood that, and its now being discarded. Society is the real victim in this ruling.