A Denver judge is considering whether prison labor in Colorado constitutes involuntary servitude during a nine-day civil trial that began Tuesday.

The case stems from a 2022 lawsuit in which state prisoners claimed the Colorado Department of Corrections’ approach to prison labor is coercive, illegal and ultimately amounts to involuntary servitude, which Colorado voters outlawed via Amendment A in 2018.

Prisoners in Colorado are expected to work prison jobs, which include food preparation, janitorial services and other positions within prisons. They can choose not to work, but doing so is a disciplinary infraction for which prisoners are punished, according to court filings.

At issue in the civil case is whether punishments for prisoners who refuse to work are so coercive that they ac

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