Alabama's prison labor program amounts to "modern day slavery," lawsuit claims

[BumRushDaShow]

Source: CBS News

December 13, 2023 / 7:55 AM EST


Montgomery, Ala. — Current and former inmates announced a lawsuit Tuesday challenging Alabama's prison labor program as a type of "modern day slavery," saying prisoners are forced to work for little pay - and sometimes no pay - in jobs that benefit government entities or private companies.

The class action suit also accuses the state of maintaining a discriminatory parole system with a low release rate that ensures a supply of laborers while also generating money for the state.

"The forced labor scheme that currently exists in the Alabama prison system is the modern reincarnation of the notorious convict leasing system that replaced slavery after the Civil War," Janet Herold, the legal director of Justice Catalyst Law, said Tuesday. The Alabama Department of Corrections and the Alabama attorney general's office declined to comment on the suit.

The suit accuses the state of violating the equal protection clause of the U.S. Constitution, anti-human trafficking laws and the Alabama Constitution.

Read more: https://www.cbsnews.com/news/alabama-prison-labor-program-modern-day-slavery-lawsuit/

[multigraincracker]

1. Follow the money.

Look at what inmates are charged for a phone call. How much do the food vendors profit. Then there are the wages stolen from them. Seems those might be a bigger crime than some are accused off.

[Farmer-Rick]

2. Figures

It was only a matter of time before prison labor turned into a slave program like it was before. The states are doing the exact same thing they did during Jim Crow. Why did anyone think the results would be any different this time around?

All the states should be investigated for providing slave labor to corporations. They are all doing it, especially the privatized prisons.

[Ferrets are Cool]

3. For profit prisons

Should be illegal.

[WhatTheFlux]

4. 13th Amendment

Unfortunately, the Thirteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution abolished slavery and involuntary servitude, except as punishment for a crime. My guess is, the Supremes will cite that and case closed.