N.Y. Ballot Question Would Authorize Volunteering by Prisoners
October 28, 2009 | Read Time: 1 minute
New York State voters will decide next week on a constitutional amendment to allow prisoners to do volunteer work for nonprofit organizations, reports the Associated Press.
State and county inmates have been used in the past for volunteer work, but New York’s Commission of Correction issued an advisory a few years ago warning that the practice might violate the state constitution’s ban on contracting inmate labor. The measure on the November 3 ballot, which is supported by state corrections officials, would authorize the state legislature to pass bills to allow unpaid work for charitable, educational, or religious purposes.
Sue Ryder Care, an organization in London that provides aid and end-of-life care for people suffering from long-term conditions, has placed 300 inmates as volunteers in its charity shops in a joint program with British prisons, the Guardian reports.
