Inmates in California sew Covid masks in April 2020 It's 157 years since the US constitution banned chattel slavery - in which one person is the legal property of another - but left in place an exemption for convicted prisoners. Throughout most of the US, slavery or involuntary servitude are still legal as punishment for a crime. But on 8 November, voters in five states - Alabama, Louisiana, Oregon, Tennessee and Vermont - will decide whether to remove these exemptions from their state constitutions and ban slavery entirely. The outcome could enable prisoners to challenge forced labour. Some 800,000 currently work for pennies, or for nothing at all. Seven states do not pay prison workers any wage for most job assignments. Supporters of change say it's an exploitative loophole that must be closed. But critics argue that the move is unaffordable and could lead to unintended consequences in the criminal justice system 'I worked for 25 years and came home with 124 dollars' The roots of the modern system originate in the centuries of enslavement of African-Americans, human rights researchers say. In the years after slavery was outlawed, laws were passed that specifically aimed to suppress black communities and force them into prisons where they would be required to work. Now, some imprisoned black Americans are still forced to pick cotton and other crops on the southern plantations where their forefathers were kept in chains. "The United States of America has never had a day without codified slavery," says Curtis Ray Davis II, who spent over 25 years serving hard labour in a Louisiana prison for a murder that he did not commit, before he was pardoned in 2019. Mr Davis held a variety of jobs at the notorious Louisiana State Penitentiary - nicknamed Angola after the country from which many of the African slaves in the area were brought. "I worked for 25 years and came home with 124 dollars," says Mr Davis, who was never paid more than 20 cents per hour for his work, which he says was "against my will and at gunpoint". Around 75% of prisoners at the penitentiary are black, according to the Innocence Project, a group that works to exonerate wrongly convicted prisoners. They argue that Angola is essentially a place where American slavery never ended. Mr Davis wrote a book about his experience at Angola "Even though slavery was abolished, it truly was just a transfer of ownership from chattel slavery and private ownership to literally state-sanctioned slavery," says Savannah Eldrige from the Abolish Slavery National Network. Her organisation has been working to expand the number of states that ban slavery with no exemptions and has tried to persuade lawmakers in Washington to pass a similar law amending the US Constitution. Colorado, Nebraska and Utah have passed measures banning all forms of slavery since 2018. Ms Eldrige notes that the movement has attracted bipartisan support - the only way it could pass in Republican-dominated Utah and Nebraska. In 2023, she predicts that 18 state legislatures will vote on legislation to ban slavery. Sheriffs warn of 'unintended consequences' Very few major opponents have come forward against the efforts by states to remove slavery language, but the movement has encountered some resistance from critics who say it would be too expensive to pay prisoners proper wages, that they do not deserve the same compensation - or that the changes could disadvantage inmates. A vote in the California legislature to remove slavery references from the law failed this summer after Democrats, including the governor, warned that it would cost more than $1.5bn (£1.3bn) to pay prisoners the state's $15 per hour minimum wage. The Oregon State Sheriffs' Association opposes the measure there, saying it would lead to "unintended consequences" and the loss of all "reformative programs", which include low-paid tasks like working in the library, kitchen and laundry. The group says these give prisoners something to do and "serve as an incentive for good behaviour" - which is a factor during parole hearings. It says two problems with the measure are that it only applies to those convicted, leaving out people in pre-trial detention, and that it could spell the end of any prison programme not specifically authorised by a court sentence. "Oregon Sheriffs do not condone or support slavery and/or involuntary servitude in any form," the association says in a pamphlet to voters, adding that the passage of the measure "will result in the elimination of all reformative programs and increased costs to local jail operations". A chain gang, pictured in 1909 Prisoners contribute to the supply chain and economy in many ways, some of them surprising. They have been commissioned to make everything from eyeglasses to car licence plates to city park benches. They process beef, milk and cheese, and work in call support centres for government agencies and major companies. It can be hard to track which businesses have used prison labour since the work is typically done for a subcontractor. The subcontractor then sells the products and services to major companies which are sometimes unaware of their origin. Companies that have previously benefited from prison labour in Utah alone include American Express, Apple, Pepsi-Co and FedEx, according to a June report from the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU). At least 30 states include prison workers in their emergency operation plans for natural disasters and other civil disruptions. They fight wildfires in at least 14 states, according to the ACLU report. Prisoners are recruited to fight wildfires every summer Prisoners' lives are unlikely to change overnight if the five states with upcoming votes do back a change, however. "These referendums are necessary but not sufficient to end slavery," says Jennifer Turner, a human rights researcher with the ACLU. Courts would still need to interpret what rights prison workers have, and whether they will get benefits - like sick leave - that other non-incarcerated workers are legally entitled to. In states which have previously removed the slavery exemption, outcomes have varied. In Colorado, a prisoner sued the state, arguing that it was violating the slavery ban. But a court ruled in August that voters had not intended to abolish all prison labour and dismissed the case. One jail in Nebraska has started paying inmates $20 to $30 per week after the exemption was removed there, according to the New York Times. More legal challenges are expected as prisoners continue to push for rights and protections. Mr Davis, who was wrongly jailed in Louisiana, says that removing the prison exemption will strip away an "incentive" for his home state to incarcerate its citizens. "I believe that any person of conscience, any person that understands property law, understands that human beings should not be the property of other people," he tells BBC News. "And they should not be the property of the state of Louisiana."
(emphasis added) Constitution of the United States Thirteenth Amendment Section 1 Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, except as a punishment for crime whereof the party shall have been duly convicted, shall exist within the United States, or any place subject to their jurisdiction. Section 2 Congress shall have power to enforce this article by appropriate legislation. <the end> I live by the mantra of, "if you want to eat you have to work". it's such a simple concept most primates understand it fully.
I agree with you totally. I've worked at least part time I completely believe that. I've worked since I was 13 at least part time. That's why this whole 'loan forgiveness' thing drives me up a tree. You make an agreement, you live up to it regardless of the subject.
I'm "happy" to see low risk, county inmates picking up road trash or working at the recycling center. if i was incarcerated on any level i would definitely want "a job" and wouldn't care if it paid $1 an hour. at least i'd be building bank for the commissary. and if i were a warden i most definitely would have inmates doing grounds work, tilling a garden, and forking a compost pile. smh... right? If you can't afford the time don't do the crime. making some inmates do actual work-work might be the best rehab any of them could receive since a good majority of inmates never work-worked an honest job in their life. i dont see what the big deal is. if there's "abuse" going on with these arrangements then fix that, otherwise, work!
i think we should pay them also charge them rent for housing , for there 3 meals a day , laundry once per week , same commisary prices as our now empty shelves at local grocery , there should also be a luxury fee as in yard time and day room, hell most day rooms are pay for the seat , at least were i was you did, nothing inside is free . not to mention medical, right now they only pay for the visit to infirmary, when they started charging non - indigents a visit fee , infirmary was no longer a catch out . if you ever been on lock down for around 3 weeks , with only a daily shower for egress of the cell , that little cell gets damn small with 2 inmates inside it , not to mention the cell block smell of straight up ass. no sir i was glad to have my freedom and i worked as much as i could to stay out of that tiny hole called home. this cat was a field hand for a reason, he had classification and displinary fractions , cause even inside you can have true jobs and that job in reality is about 3 hard hours a day , that it the rest is just like dayroom or rec yard shooting brezze with the homies . so dont be fooled with all the race crap either , take note of the race census in louisanna before you judge it a color thing. inside there are two colors, you and them prison is only as hard as you want it too be,i know bro's that get paid to do time for other folks , believe it i could get everything inside as i can out , money talks bullshit walks, if you got a hustle thats your store inside , you go jacking with the system and you might just find that some the ole boys love there casa and you infringe on it you might need to bring a few sack lunchs
Sooo. Maybe slavery dosnt have anything to do with racism??? i been in jail before. And I saw first hand. Basiclly you trade your work for time. if you earn that PRIVILEGE
even sitting in front of that machine makes you feel useful , my opinion, though , you and i screwed up, we did our time, i did mine in gen pop, you dont have to work at all it is your choice, but if you dont, you get 1 hr rec plus a shower a day, hands down lock down, but that was your choice, like i said above laid up in a cell block locked down with a celly gets old about the first day, so 3 hours of work when i want to or lock down . if you show up for work they dont just stand over you with a ball and chain
With taxes, inflation, and insane rent or mortgage prices, those prisoners are probably making more than many of us. Should we give them prevailing wage on top of free room and board? They are supposed to be getting punishment for wrongdoing, not a vacation. Many prisons have higher education programs as well. Prison is starting to sound pretty good with the Biden economy. I bet some of the homeless in cities like Portland would appreciate a dry warm prison cell compared to the living conditions they will face this winter. Calling work release slavery is just another woke joke.
use to be like that until a inmate sued the state over lack of mail and over crowding, some of those row tenders still exist and they along with many old boots cant stand the new system . reason i said bring lunch sacks hahahah
