RICO’s Q (Opinion) Riddle me this. Just two days after President Laura Fernández rolled out her security package, including the new “Ley de Cero Ocio en las Cárceles” (Zero Leisure Time Law in Prisons), to allow prison work, the Ministerio de Justicia (Ministry of Justice) made sure everyone saw it, releasing photos of prisoners working outside prison walls right after the president’s announcement.
Wait, wasn’t the whole point of this proposed law to allow prisoner work?
That’s what we were made to believe.
Let’s rewind a bit. Not too long ago, inmates were the ones planting trees in Sabana Metropolitan Park. They’ve been out cleaning brush along major roads like Florencio del Castillo (Ruta 2), sprucing up rivers, and painting local police stations. Prisoners have long been part of running workshops, making school desks, and even teaming up with private companies for packaging projects.
So what’s really up with this fourth bill in the president’s six-point security plan? It’s all about regulating and boosting prison work and training. The bill sets up a special unit to handle these activities, opens the door for deals with public and private sectors, and even creates a fund to manage the money made.
The pitch? To let prisoners work.
This new law isn’t starting from scratch—it’s about shaking things up to cut down on idle time and push inmates to get involved in productive work.
“We don’t want any more idlers in jail,” the president said. “Incarcerated individuals must participate in productive activities.”
One important note: forced labor is off the table. Costa Rica’s laws and international agreements forbid making work mandatory or punishing inmates with forced labor on top of their sentences. It’s unconstitutional.
What President Fernández didn’t spell out clearly is that her bill isn’t launching a brand-new program. Instead, it’s expanding existing rules to make community-benefiting work a bigger, more organized part of prison life—not the surprise “prisoners must work” we were led to believe was a new program.