American Civil Liberties Union

The American Civil Liberties Union is a nonprofit organization founded in 1920 “to defend and preserve the individual rights and liberties guaranteed to every person in this country by the Constitution and laws of the United States”.

Kentucky still reaps slavery’s bitter fruit as prisons and jails swell with ‘indentured servants’
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Kentucky still reaps slavery’s bitter fruit as prisons and jails swell with ‘indentured servants’

ByEyes on Trafficking News

Kentucky resisted the end of slavery, refusing to certify the 13th Amendment at the time and only freeing people six months after June 19, 1865, the day celebrated as the Juneteenth holiday. Legislators finally ratified the amendment in 1976. And to this day, the state Constitution endorses slavery for one group of citizens: inmates. Reads…

Success of ‘Slavery on the Ballot’ Vote Could Help Incarcerated Pregnant People
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Success of ‘Slavery on the Ballot’ Vote Could Help Incarcerated Pregnant People

ByEyes on Trafficking News

This story was originally published by The 19th. During the midterm elections, five states — Alabama, Oregon, Vermont, Louisiana, and Tennessee — put to vote initiatives purported to prohibit the use of slavery and indentured servitude as a punishment for crime, an antiquated allowance given by the 13th Amendment 157 years ago this month that…

Inside Louisiana’s forced prison labor and a failed overhaul attempt
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Inside Louisiana’s forced prison labor and a failed overhaul attempt

ByEyes on Trafficking News

BATON ROUGE – Breakfast at Louisiana’s state Capitol includes fresh coffee, cookies and egg sandwiches – made and served in part by incarcerated people working for no pay. “They force us to work,” said Jonathan Archille, 29, who is among more than a dozen current and formerly incarcerated people in Louisiana who told the Washington…

Inside Louisiana’s forced prison labor and a failed overhaul attempt
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Inside Louisiana’s forced prison labor and a failed overhaul attempt

ByEyes on Trafficking News

BATON ROUGE – Breakfast at Louisiana’s state Capitol includes fresh coffee, cookies and egg sandwiches – made and served in part by incarcerated people working for no pay. “They force us to work,” said Jonathan Archille, 29, who is among more than a dozen current and formerly incarcerated people in Louisiana who told the Washington…

Success of ‘slavery on the ballot’ measures could help incarcerated pregnant people of color
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Success of ‘slavery on the ballot’ measures could help incarcerated pregnant people of color

ByEyes on Trafficking News

Originally published by The 19th During the midterm elections, five states — Alabama, Oregon, Vermont, Louisiana, and Tennessee — put to vote initiatives purported to prohibit the use of slavery and indentured servitude as a punishment for crime, an antiquated allowance given by the 13th Amendment 157 years ago this month that prisons across the country still…

‘You’re a slave’: Inside Louisiana’s forced prison labor and a failed overhaul attempt
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‘You’re a slave’: Inside Louisiana’s forced prison labor and a failed overhaul attempt

ByEyes on Trafficking News

BATON ROUGE — Breakfast at Louisiana’s state Capitol includes fresh coffee, cookies and egg sandwiches — made and served in part by incarcerated people working for no pay. “They force us to work,” said Jonathan Archille, 29, who is among more than a dozen current and formerly incarcerated people in Louisiana who told The Washington…

Prison Labor Described by GHRC Report Could Be Abolished in More States This Year, Say Organizers
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Prison Labor Described by GHRC Report Could Be Abolished in More States This Year, Say Organizers

ByEyes on Trafficking News

Movement grows to abolish US prison labor system that treats workers as ‘less than human’ Edwin RiosDecember 24, 2022 The Guardian For more than two decades imprisoned in California, Samual Brown worked more than a dozen different jobs and was transferred between penitentiaries throughout the state – earning less than a dollar per hour. At…

Movement grows to abolish US prison labor system that treats workers as ‘less than human’
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Movement grows to abolish US prison labor system that treats workers as ‘less than human’

ByEyes on Trafficking News

Hundreds of thousands of incarcerated people work in US prisons as part of their sentences, often without basic protections and for little to no pay For more than two decades imprisoned in California, Samual Brown worked more than a dozen different jobs and was transferred between penitentiaries throughout the state – earning less than a…

Yes, incarcerated workers still make license plates
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Yes, incarcerated workers still make license plates

ByEyes on Trafficking News

Inmates have produced license plates as part of prison labor programs for more than 100 years, and continue to do so in many U.S. states. Two out of three people incarcerated in state and federal prisons are also workers, the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) estimated in a June 2022 report. Deb recently reached out…

The Case For Taxing Prison Labor
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The Case For Taxing Prison Labor

ByEyes on Trafficking News

Stephanie Hunter McMahon of the University of Cincinnati College of Law discusses why labor performed by incarcerated workers should be subject to tax. This transcript has been edited for length and clarity. David D. Stewart: Welcome to the podcast. I’m David Stewart, editor in chief of Tax Notes Today International. This week: prisoners’ dilemma. On…