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Speakers at Edina meeting urge Minnesota lawmakers and local leaders to end 'prison slavery' and reclassify incarcerated workers
Summary
Representatives from a coalition and several speakers urged the council and local leaders to endorse state legislation to reclassify incarcerated workers as employees and raise pay, arguing the change would reduce recidivism and provide economic supports for returning citizens.
During the meeting’s public‑comment period, several speakers representing a coalition and people with lived experience described what they called "prison slavery" in Minnesota and urged Edina leaders to endorse or otherwise support pending legislative efforts to reclassify incarcerated workers as state employees and increase pay.
Jarmel Perry, identified as part of the Coalition to End Slavery in Minnesota’s prison systems, told the council that Minnesota’s constitution allows involuntary servitude as punishment for crime and said the coalition is working to change that framework…
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