You don’t the half of it lassie.
Slavery is still legal in the US… but only the government can do it. The text of the 13th amendment clearly states this:
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
Read Section 1 again, slower,…. that’s right, slavery is legal if you are convicted of a crime.
What crime is left unspecified. And slavery can’t be cruel and unusual since it is explicitly permitted here.
This seems a bit scary to me. And inexplicably unexploited. I’d have thought that the progressives would have latched onto this as a way to exploit the productive.
Politically it seems unlikely, but with enough fervor about a given crime, passions could overcome sense and we could have slavery again. But hey… I’ll give it a try for a very unpopular crime, just to show how easy it could be if we went down this path…
13th Amendment slavery could be useful as a way to get around the “rights” of sexual predators. Balancing those rights too often reintroduces them into society where they just shouldn’t be. As slaves we could put them where-ever.
There, I just justified slavery. It’s almost too easy!
And apparently, available.
April 21st, 2011 at 9:39 am
Prison labor is used. Were you not aware of this?
April 21st, 2011 at 9:49 am
Yes, and it concerns me. I do not like the government having a fiscal reason to incarcerate people.
I do not mind if prisoners are offered work, paid for it, and use it as a way to escape the drudgery of prison, at their option.