Lawyer Sues

Tony Serra, the lawyer who inspired the 1989 movie True Believer,’served 10 months at Lompoc for failing to pay his income taxes. (IJ
archive)

Attorney J. Tony Serra is filing a class-action civil lawsuit against the federal Bureau of Prisons, saying the system forces inmates to work at
slave wages.
Serra, a part-time Bolinas resident who was recently released after serving a 10-month sentence for failure to pay income taxes, said the bureau needs to set a minimum wage for prison labor.
He said he was paid 19 cents an hour while incarcerated at the federal penitentiary in Lompoc near the Vandenberg Air Force Base in central California. His job was to water the grounds.

Stephen Perelson of Mill Valley, a former Serra law partner and one of his attorneys in the lawsuit, said it is a matter of civil rights for
prisoners.Serra “wanted a lawsuit to remedy unjust and unfair compensation,Serra
“wanted a lawsuit to remedy unjust and unfair compensation,” Perelson said.

He said inmates deserve decent wages, particularly because they sometimes work for private companies that profit from the low-cost labor.
Prisoner pay is addressed in the 13th Amendment of the Constitution,
which outlaws slavery and involuntary servitude – except when someone is being punished for a crime.
Under the amendment, once someone has been tried and convicted of a crime, he or she cannot refuse work while in custody.
According to “Rights of Prisoners” by law professor Michael Mushlin, courts have upheld the practice of disciplining prisoners who have refused to work because they have no constitutional rights.
Mushlin said the 13th Amendment does not address wages, but many court cases have. In general, courts want to avoid establishing an
employer-employee relationship between prisons and inmates.
County jails in California generally do not pay wages for work and expect inmates to participate in cleaning their personal areas and helping to maintain facilities.

Dennis McQueeny, captain of the Marin County Jail, said that if inmates become employees, they would be entitled to benefits – and that would be inappropriate.
Instead, those who do substantial jobs – like working in the kitchen or painting county facilities – get extra privileges, McQueeny said.
“They get a little more freedom and they can move around a bit more,” McQueeny said.

Under state law, inmates are given credit for good behavior and work time as an incentive to reduce the time they serve.
Serra was not available for comment Tuesday, and his staff said the lawsuit would not be available until Wednesday.
The Bureau of Prisons could not be reached for comment on Serra’s lawsuit, which will be filed in the U.S. District Court in San Francisco.