4 ms·
Slavery is explicitly permitted in prisons by the constitution. > Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, except as a punishment for crime whereof the party
by shantanubala 12y ago
Slavery is explicitly permitted in prisons by the constitution.
> 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.
https://www.law.cornell.edu/constitution/amendmentxiii https://www.law.cornell.edu/constitution/amendmentxiii
- nitrogen 12y agoIt could be argued that prison labor is "cruel and unusual" by modern standards.
- zer0rest 12y agoUS prisons are 5 star hotels.
- briandear 12y agoBeing in a work crew is optional. You can sit in your cell all day.
- maccard 12y agoAFAIK it's voluntary, no? Also, given the choice between working 8(?) hours a day, or sitting staring at a cell wall for the same hours, which would you pick? (I'd pick the work)
- byuu 12y agoI'd absolutely choose staring at walls to cleaning toilets for $5 a month. But if it's completely voluntary, and you won't face any direct nor indirect retaliation for refusing, then I have less of a problem with it (it still distorts the labor market when they take jobs from people not incarcerated, and the taxpayers are the ones subsidizing those jobs.)
- jarin 12y agoYou still need stuff from the commissary though, so unless someone is putting money in your prison account you'll need to get money somehow. I'd rather clean toilets for $5/month than some of the other alternatives (I don't know what they would be but I imagine they're not pleasant).
- larzang 12y agoIt's voluntary in that you can choose to work or you can choose to be thrown in solitary, beaten, and starved, until you stop refusing to work.
- Lawtonfogle 12y agoVoluntary in the same way every mugging is voluntary.
- LLWM 12y agoAnything could be argued. Doesn't mean there's any actual basis for the argument.
- whybroke 12y agoBut being guilty isn't a criterion apparently. http://www.npr.org/2011/03/09/134394946/illinois-abolishes-death-penalty http://www.npr.org/2011/03/09/134394946/illinois-abolishes-d...
- coldtea 12y ago>*Slavery is explicitly permitted in prisons by the constitution. Slavery, the death penalty, the largest incanceration rates in the world. And some natives consider the country some kind of champion for "freedom"...
- one-more-minute 12y agoDepending on what you mean by "native".
- coldtea 12y agoMostly "locals".
- deleted 12y ago[deleted]