More than 1.2 million people are incarcerated in state and federal prisons in the United States. Many of them work in the facilities in which they are housed, as laborers for the prison itself (laundry, kitchen, custodial) or for government agencies or private companies that use prisoners as workers. Financial compensation for prison labor varies across the United States but tends to be meager. How should prisoners be compensated for the work they do while they are incarcerating? While the purposes of imprisonment will always be subject to conflicting views, this policy lab rests on the premise that rehabilitation is or should be at least one of the goals of incarceration; that prison work should be part of the process of rehabilitation, not part of the punishment imposed on an incarcerated person; and that any model of compensation for prison labor must respect principles of fairness and individual dignity while meeting the pragmatic test of sustainability. Using these principles, this policy lab will develop a framework for setting fair and appropriate levels of compensation for prison labor, taking into account monetary wages and also various forms of non-wage compensation, such as earned time credits, education and vocational training. Students will research legal and policy issues that will inform the framework, including valuing the range of benefits prisoners receive and deserve. Learning from other contexts where fair compensation models have been developed in the context of similar characteristics, students will develop proposals that could be adopted by U.S. jurisdictions. Towards the end of the course, students will have an opportunity to present their conclusions to a panel of experts and stakeholders whose feedback will inform the final product. The final deliverable will be a report that outlines the model and the rationales behind it. This course will be taught simultaneously to a course being offered at the University of Gottingen in Germany where law students will be working to respond to a German Federal Constitutional Court order from June 2023 ordering two states in Germany to develop a model of fair compensation of prisoner labor (see: https://www.bundesverfassungsgericht.de/SharedDocs/Pressemitteilungen/EN/2023/bvg23-LAW 056.html). There will be opportunities for Stanford students to learn with and from their German counterparts. Elements used in grading: Attendance, performance, class participation, written assignments, final paper. CONSENT APPLICATION: Interested students should submit a Policy Lab application (go to link SLS Registrar https://registrar.law.stanford.edu/) and copy of their resume, transcript, and a one-page statement describing their interest and relevant experience by Friday, March LAW 20 to Debbie Mukamal (dmukamal@law.stanford.edu).
2-3 units · Law Mandatory P/R/F
More than 1.2 million people are incarcerated in state and federal prisons in the United States. Many of them work in the facilities in which they are housed, as laborers for the prison itself (laundry, kitchen, custodial) or for government agencies or private companies that use prisoners as workers. Financial compensation for prison labor varies across the United States but tends to be meager. How should prisoners be compensated for the work they do while they are incarcerating? While the purposes of imprisonment will always be subject to conflicting views, this policy lab rests on the premise that rehabilitation is or should be at least one of the goals of incarceration; that prison work should be part of the process of rehabilitation, not part of the punishment imposed on an incarcerated person; and that any model of compensation for prison labor must respect principles of fairness and individual dignity while meeting the pragmatic test of sustainability. Using these principles, this policy lab will develop a framework for setting fair and appropriate levels of compensation for prison labor, taking into account monetary wages and also various forms of non-wage compensation, such as earned time credits, education and vocational training. Students will research legal and policy issues that will inform the framework, including valuing the range of benefits prisoners receive and deserve. Learning from other contexts where fair compensation models have been developed in the context of similar characteristics, students will develop proposals that could be adopted by U.S. jurisdictions. Towards the end of the course, students will have an opportunity to present their conclusions to a panel of experts and stakeholders whose feedback will inform the final product. The final deliverable will be a report that outlines the model and the rationales behind it. This course will be taught simultaneously to a course being offered at the University of Gottingen in Germany where law students will be working to respond to a German Federal Constitutional Court order from June 2023 ordering two states in Germany to develop a model of fair compensation of prisoner labor (see: https://www.bundesverfassungsgericht.de/SharedDocs/Pressemitteilungen/EN/2023/bvg23-056.html). There will be opportunities for Stanford students to learn with and from their German counterparts. Elements used in grading: Attendance, performance, class participation, written assignments, final paper. CONSENT APPLICATION: Interested students should submit a Policy Lab application (go to link SLS Registrar https://registrar.law.stanford.edu/) and copy of their resume, transcript, and a one-page statement describing their interest and relevant experience by Friday, March 20 to Debbie Mukamal (dmukamal@law.stanford.edu).
Offered in Spring 2026 at Stanford University.