Some California prisons have a volunteer program where inmates can be trained and then participate in fighting California wildfires. There are programs for both men and women, and over 2,000 inmates participate in these programs. The pay they receive is slightly more than the 8cents an hour that most prison inmates make.
Inmate crews are among the first on the scene when a wildfire is threatening homes across the state. They've played a key role in every major wildfire in recent years. Some have lost their lives fighting fires. Only felons with less serious felony offenses and a history of good behavior are eligible to participate in the program. Inmates are the state's primary "hand crews" doing the critically important and dangerous job of using chainsaws and hand tools to cut firelines around properties and neighborhoods during wildfires.
When released from prison, local government fire agencies bar inmate firefighters from employment due to them being unable to gain a national Emergency Medical Technician certification required to get hired.
Social justice activists and others say it is a troubling incongruity in a state that has otherwise embraced reforming the justice system to encourage rehabilitation. The treatment of inmate firefighters is part of a larger national debate over sentencing laws and a criminal justice system that puts far more weight on punishment than rehabilitation and redemption.
They're happy to exploit the labor of incarcerated firefighters and incarcerated people at slave wages, but once you are released, with a high level of skill to fight wildfires, you are not allowed to work. This is just one of the justice reforms that must be dealt with. Prison reform is one of the men issues that I hope our next Congress will deal with.
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