Lawsuit Alleges 'Modern-Day Slavery' In Alabama Prison System
Current and former prisoners in Alabama filed a lawsuit in federal court Tuesday arguing that the state’s prison labor system amounts to a “modern-day form of slavery” that violates the U.S. and Alabama constitutions.
The complaint, brought with the support of labor unions, alleges that Alabama profits to the tune of more than $450 million a year through coerced work, and that fast food companies and other private corporations benefit from an unlawful “labor trafficking scheme.”
The proposed class action lawsuit seeks to abolish a “captive labor source” for the state and award current and past prisoners with damages. The defendants include the state’s Republican governor, Kay Ivey, and its Republican attorney general, Steve Marshall, along with Alabama corrections and parole officials.
Janet Herold, a lawyer for the plaintiffs, said in a press conference Tuesday that the prison work programs are “the modern reincarnation of the notorious convict-leasing system that replaced slavery after the Civil War.”
https://www.huffpost.com/entry/alabama-prisoners-sue-state-modern-day-slavery_n_6578b23ee4b0db9d2ab74317
In other words, nothing is new.
