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How is forced labour a legal punishment in America?


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Military punishment is separate from civilian.

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Ever see the guys on the highway picking up trash? It is legal as a punishment for crimes

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The prisoners do have a choice to do work. And they do get paid for it, albeit very little.

And believe it or not it's actually a privilege to be able to do work, especially outside of the prison. First you have to behave and show that not only will you not try to escape, but you won't pose any kind of threat to the other prisoners or the guards. The first time you do anything out of line, then the privilege is revoked and you can just sit in your cell all day.

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While both would certainly suck I would much rather be out picking up trash than climbing the walls in a cell all day.

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Oh my sweet summer child. Slavery was never abolished in the US. It was simply transferred to the criminal justice system by the 13th amendment.

"The current state of prison labor in the United States is distinctly rooted in slavery. Slavery was made unconstitutional with the passage of the 13th Amendment in 1865, “except as punishment for crime whereof the party shall have been duly convicted.” In other words, incarcerated persons can be forced to work as punishment for their crimes with no constitutional labor rights afforded to them. After the Civil War, during the Reconstruction Era, Southern States quickly developed large prison camps throughout the region, some of which were even former plantations. Convict-leasing programs were developed, in which the state would accept money from private land/business owners in exchange for the labor of unpaid incarcerated workers. This period saw the enactment of “black codes” in Southern states, which disproportionately targeted and criminalized the behavior of newly freed black men. For example, in Mississippi, black men were required to show written documentation of employment or face incarceration for vagrancy. In South Carolina, black individuals were not permitted to hold any other occupation other than servant or farmer until they were able to pay an annual $100 tax, and show documentation. During this time the great majority of incarcerated individuals and “hired- out” convicts were black. These convict leasing programs filled a labor gap within industries that were previously dominated by slave work (cotton picking, mining, and railroad construction) prior to the passage of the 13th amendment. A primary example of this transition is Louisiana’s Angola prison, which is still in full operation today. Before being purchased by the state of Louisiana, Angola Prison was an 8,000-acre family plantation. Today, the land that was once tilled by family-owned slaves, has expanded to 18,000-acres, and is now tilled by state

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