To many people, slavery is something of the past; after all, it was abolished 150 years ago. However, for many prisoners in the US, it never ended. The 13th Amendment banned slavery in almost all of its forms, but there is one exception-- prison labor. Private prisons are free to exploit the work of inmates without compensating them in any way. Forcing someone to work for no pay, regardless of socioeconomic status, is a violation of human rights.
Before this is expanded upon, it is crucial to first understand the current scope and state of the United States prison system. According to the World Prison Brief (WPB), the US has the highest total prison population (2,145,100) out of any country in the world. In addition to this, it also has the …show more content…
At the conclusion of WWII, the United Nations was established. Its purpose was to try to prevent another event in the scope of WWII from occurring. To achieve this, the UN created the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, a list of the basic rights every human on Earth deserves. The United States was one of 48 countries that voted in favor of the Declaration.
To return to the earlier point, there are two articles that the US prison system violates, the first of which being Article 4. It states,
“No one shall be held in slavery or servitude; slavery and the slave trade shall be prohibited in all their forms.”
The US Constitution bans slavery in almost all of its forms; the key word being “almost.” According to the Thirteenth Amendment,
“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.”
Because of this, prisons are legally free to subject prisoners to slavery. Although it might seem strange to consider, many prisons violate this rule. Slavery is defined as “the state of being under the control of someone where a person is forced to work for another.” Therefore, although it violates a human right, slavery in prison is legal in the …show more content…
Some argue that the reduced or nonexistent wage is just a result of things being provided by the prison; they argue that if prisoners were paid, they’d just have to put the money back into the prison to pay for food and shelter.
To an extent, this claim is true; food and shelter being provided is one of major reasons why prisoners are paid little to nothing. However, this argument is flawed. Think about it this way: Even if they worked a minimum-wage job, and as long as they spend money reasonably, the vast majority of people have at least some excess money to spend on whatever they want to. Compare that to prison labor, where prisoners who work hard in difficult jobs don’t receive any sort of payment.
In summary, the human rights of prisoners are being violated when they are forced to work for free in prison. As proven historically, if a law can be exploited, it will be exploited. Whether by convict leasing or for-profit prison labor, the Thirteenth Amendment has continued to provide prisons with the ability to exploit people and violate their human rights for personal gain. Unless an Amendment is made to the Constitution, the chances are that this will not change anytime soon. Although it might be economically and physically difficult to alleviate this problem, it is imperative that it be solved, for if it isn’t, the human rights of millions of Americans can and will be further violated indefinitely. It is our
Before this is expanded upon, it is crucial to first understand the current scope and state of the United States prison system. According to the World Prison Brief (WPB), the US has the highest total prison population (2,145,100) out of any country in the world. In addition to this, it also has the …show more content…
At the conclusion of WWII, the United Nations was established. Its purpose was to try to prevent another event in the scope of WWII from occurring. To achieve this, the UN created the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, a list of the basic rights every human on Earth deserves. The United States was one of 48 countries that voted in favor of the Declaration.
To return to the earlier point, there are two articles that the US prison system violates, the first of which being Article 4. It states,
“No one shall be held in slavery or servitude; slavery and the slave trade shall be prohibited in all their forms.”
The US Constitution bans slavery in almost all of its forms; the key word being “almost.” According to the Thirteenth Amendment,
“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.”
Because of this, prisons are legally free to subject prisoners to slavery. Although it might seem strange to consider, many prisons violate this rule. Slavery is defined as “the state of being under the control of someone where a person is forced to work for another.” Therefore, although it violates a human right, slavery in prison is legal in the …show more content…
Some argue that the reduced or nonexistent wage is just a result of things being provided by the prison; they argue that if prisoners were paid, they’d just have to put the money back into the prison to pay for food and shelter.
To an extent, this claim is true; food and shelter being provided is one of major reasons why prisoners are paid little to nothing. However, this argument is flawed. Think about it this way: Even if they worked a minimum-wage job, and as long as they spend money reasonably, the vast majority of people have at least some excess money to spend on whatever they want to. Compare that to prison labor, where prisoners who work hard in difficult jobs don’t receive any sort of payment.
In summary, the human rights of prisoners are being violated when they are forced to work for free in prison. As proven historically, if a law can be exploited, it will be exploited. Whether by convict leasing or for-profit prison labor, the Thirteenth Amendment has continued to provide prisons with the ability to exploit people and violate their human rights for personal gain. Unless an Amendment is made to the Constitution, the chances are that this will not change anytime soon. Although it might be economically and physically difficult to alleviate this problem, it is imperative that it be solved, for if it isn’t, the human rights of millions of Americans can and will be further violated indefinitely. It is our