DEFUNDDOC.NET: “END U.S. PRISONER SLAVERY NOW”, SAYS IMPRISONED SLAVE

DEFUNDDOC.NET: “END U.S. PRISONER SLAVERY NOW”, SAYS IMPRISONED SLAVE

By Daniel J. Simms, Independent Journalist/Author/Activist/Podcast Host. www.DanielJSimms.com. www.DefundDOC.net.

Nationwide – April 1, 2024 (USANews.com) – When Darrel Horry was driving on Interstate 20 through Augusta, Georgia, on April 16, 2021, and was pulled over for speeding by the Georgia Department of Public Safety (“GDPS”), he did not anticipate being forced into the slave trade. Darrel alleged the GDPS unconstitutionally pulled him over, searched his person and car, and falsely imprisoned him. Ultimately, Darrel accused the government of violating “his rights to further a ‘modern-day multi-billion dollar for-profit slavery industry.'” (See: Horry v. United States, 2023 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 85790). Darrel’s case is not unique. Millions of Americans drive the U.S. roadways, fearing arrest, incarceration, and slavery.

As such, DefundDOC.net hereby demands that institutionalized U.S. prisoner slavery must end. Exploitation of our troubled people’s slave labor is no longer compatible with the values, morals, and ethics of our advanced civil society. It is repugnant that in the twenty-first century, we still have a corrupt system that enslaves our sons and daughters. (See: Slaves of the State: American Prison Labour Past and Present. Open Democracy. (Apr. 23, 2015). Genevieve LeBaron. http://www.opendemocracy.net/beyondslavery/genevieve-labaron/slaves-of-the-state-american-prison-labour-past-and-present [http://www.perma.cc/GC2E-KC6E]). Prisoner slavery is a dark stain that has plagued our shores since the Civil War. Due to the Thirteenth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution, which a racist slave-holding Congressman introduced during the Civil War, our troubled sons and daughters have been systemically enslaved. (See: The Thirteenth Amendment, Prison Labor Wages, and Interrupting Intergenerational Cycle of Subjugation. 42 Sea. U. L. Rev. 937, 963 (2019). Josh Halladay). 

The American people reject the systemic Human Rights atrocities that mass incarceration inflicts. Sadly, Crimes Against Humanity are prolific across the United States. Prisoner slavery breaches numerous United Nations Human Rights Treaties and Conventions. (See: Supplementary Convention on the Abolition of Slavery, the Slave Trade, Institutions and Practices Similar to Slavery. (Sept. 7, 1956). Article 6, 266. U.N.T.S. 3, 43). (See also: United Nations Convention Against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman, or Degrading Treatment or Punishment. (Dec. 10, 1983) 1465 U.N. T.S. 85, 23 I.L.M. 1027). (See also: United Nations Standard Minimum Rules for the Treatment of Prisoners (the Nelson Mandela Rules). G.A. Res. 70-175 (Dec. 17, 2005)). Despite the many international human rights initiatives, the United States has persisted in enslaving troubled Americans. For years, many in society and religion have called for prison slavery’s abolishment. (See: Prison Work, Wages, and Catholic Social Thought: Justice Demands Decent Work for Decent Wages, Even for Prisoners. 44 Santa Clara L. Rev. 1159, 1161-64 (2004). William Quigley). The international community is also deeply committed to ending the inhumane and degrading treatment of U.S. prisoners. (See also: An Eye for An Eye: The Current Status of International Law on the Humane Treatment of Prisoners. 25 Rutgers L. J. 759. (Spring, 1994). Suzanne M. Bernard. “[T]he right to life, education, and work are all rights which are not necessarily abrogated by conviction of a crime”). The fact is that the maltreatment of prisoners is the current common status quo. Overcrowding, extreme violence, lack of higher education, lack of quality treatment solutions, inadequate medical services, guard brutality, prison administrator corruption, extraction of family and friends funds, and many more traumatizing and dehumanizing practices. (See: Contexts of Ill-Treatment: The Relationship of Captivity and Prison Confinement to Cruel, Inhumane, or Degrading Treatment and Torture. Craig Haney and Shirin Bakhshay). 

No government or person has a superior claim to anyone’s labor. Period. Labor is a property right that belongs solely to the laborer. Nevertheless, the U.S. exploits crime as a pretext to enslave and steal the wages of millions of Americans systemically. Making the United States the most prominent Slaveholder and wage theft Kleptocracy in all of human history. (How Much Do Incarcerated People Earn in Each State? Prison Pol’y Initiative. (Apr. 10, 2017). Wendy Sawyer. http://www.prisonpolicy.org/blog/2017/04/10/wages/. “Compensation for labor is either meager or nonexistent. On average, State prisoners earn $0.20 per hour, and Federal prisoners earn $0.31 per hour. Throughout the fifty States and Federal prison system, the average minimum wage prisoners earn for regular, nonindustry jobs, which 94 percent of prisoners work, is $0.14 per hour. The average maximum is $0.64 per hour”). 

Many advocates and activists have demanded decent wages for prisoners. (See: Give Working Prisoners Dignity—and Decent Wages. Nat’l Rev. (Jan. 11, 2017). Chandra Bozelko. http://www.nationalreview.com/2017/01/prison-labor-laws-wages/ [http://www.perma.cc/T47M-N7SD]). Prisoners are our fellow Americans who made bad decisions. They do not deserve maltreatment or enslavement. Of most prisoners, 82 percent recidivate within ten years due to multiple factors such as poverty, among other things, prison trauma, indebtedness, and lack of higher education. (See: Making Ends Meet After Prison. 33 J. Pol’y Analysis and Mgmt. 440, 440 (2014). David Harding et al.). We can solve the leading factors of recidivism by ending slavery. Join our blog/podcast community today and receive a free book, DEFUND D.O.C.: TURNING ALL PRISONS INTO TREATMENT AND CAREER CENTERS, or “THE ART OF LIVING: EVERYTHING YOU NEED TO ACHIEVE SUCCESS IN LIFE AND BUSINESS, I LEARNED IN PRISON,” subscribe at www.DefundDOC.net.

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