Paranoidfactoid@lemmy.world 1 day ago
The 13th Amendment allows for forced labor in prisons. This is how Trump and the GOP will reinstitute slavery in the USA.
According to the AP article it isn’t forced per say, but it is highly leveraged onto inmates using early release/parole.
Turning down work can jeopardize chances of early release in a state that last year granted parole to only 8% of eligible prisoners — an all-time low, and among the worst rates nationwide — though that number more than doubled this year after public outcry.
I would say threatening someone with more prison time absolutely counts as “forced”.
I’m not justifying or agreeing with it, but I think accuracy is important to minimize holes people can poke in discussions when you bring things like this up. It isn’t precisely being threatened with more time than the initial sentence, it is being threatened with not successfully getting a shorter time through parole.
Again though, for the sake of accuracy, that’s still Force. Saying you won’t be eligible for something that you should be eligible for normally, taking away that opportunity via a threat is absolutely Force.
UnderpantsWeevil@lemmy.world 1 day ago
It’s been a feature of the US prison system since the end of Reconstruction. This isn’t something Trump invented.
Bright Blue California rejected a measure to ban prison slavery just a year ago.
Sharkticon@lemmy.zip 1 day ago
They weren’t suggesting Trump invented it. They were suggesting Trump plans to expand it, nationalize it, and institutionalize it.