Alabama Inmates Challenge State Alleging 'Modern-Day Slavery' in Work Programs: Legal Battle Unfolds

Alabama Inmates Challenge State's Alleged 'Modern-Day Slavery' in Landmark Lawsuit

Current and former prisoners in Alabama have taken a significant legal stand by filing a lawsuit in federal court, contending that the state's prison labor system constitutes a "modern-day form of slavery" in violation of both the U.S. and Alabama constitutions. With the backing of labor unions, the complaint asserts that Alabama reaps over $450 million annually through coerced labor, implicating fast-food corporations and other private entities in what the plaintiffs describe as an illicit "labor trafficking scheme." This proposed class action lawsuit aims to dismantle the state's reliance on a "captive labor source" and seeks damages for current and past prisoners. Noteworthy defendants include Alabama's Republican governor, Kay Ivey, and Republican attorney general, Steve Marshall, along with officials from the state's corrections and parole departments.

Speaking at a press conference on Tuesday, Janet Herold, a lawyer representing the plaintiffs, drew parallels between the current prison work programs and the post-Civil War convict-leasing system, emphasizing, "We are not talking here today about a new Jim Crow; we're talking here about the old Jim Crow." Herold, who serves as the legal director of Justice Catalyst Law, pointedly underscored the historical echoes in the lawsuit.

The lawsuit's claims argue that the state's parole system disproportionately ensnares Black prisoners in jobs offering meager or no compensation. The plaintiffs, which include two labor groups—the Union of Southern Service Workers and the Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union—assert that the state deducts 40% from prisoners' gross earnings in work-release positions. Additional deductions for transportation and uniform cleaning further erode pay rates, plummeting them well below the Alabama minimum wage of $7.25 per hour.

Highlighting the conditions within the state's "correctional industries" program, the lawsuit reveals that hundreds of prisoners manufacture clothing, license plates, and other goods purchased by government agencies. The complaint notes that workers in this program often begin with a pay rate of "25 cents per hour or less." Prisoners employed by state and local government agencies, according to the lawsuit, receive a daily wage of $2—strikingly similar to the rate set by the State of Alabama for incarcerated labor in 1927.

Alabama's Governor Kay Ivey's office did not provide immediate comment on the lawsuit as of Tuesday. The plaintiffs, joined by labor groups, aim to challenge what they perceive as a deeply entrenched system of exploitation within the state's correctional facilities.

Lakiera Walker, a plaintiff in the lawsuit, shared her harrowing experience, detailing 15 years spent in the prison system since 2007. She recounted working on a county road crew for a mere $2 a day and laboring in the warehouse of a private meat company during her incarceration. Walker highlighted the coercive nature of the system, noting that prisoners who resisted work found themselves relegated to "segregation." Released earlier this year, Walker expressed her ongoing concern for those still inside, stating, “I’m out, but my heart is still there with my friends and family who have to suffer that.” She shed light on the fear among incarcerated women to speak out due to the risk of retaliation.

Scott Douglas, the director of Greater Birmingham Ministries, denounced the system as "one of the largest sanctioned human trafficking rings." The lawsuit contends that the system violates the 14th Amendment of the U.S. Constitution, guaranteeing equal protection regardless of race. It also references a recent amendment to Alabama's state constitution, explicitly prohibiting involuntary servitude as punishment for a crime.

The prevailing practice of paying incarcerated workers nominal or no wages, a loophole facilitated by an exception to the 13th Amendment's slavery prohibition, is a commonality across many states, including Alabama. Prison systems heavily rely on incarcerated labor for tasks such as meal preparation, laundry, facility maintenance, and the production of goods sold by the state for profit.

In 2020, the U.S. Justice Department took the unusual step of suing Alabama's Department of Corrections, alleging unsanitary conditions and a failure to protect individuals in custody from both staff and fellow inmates' violence. Instead of improving conditions, prison organizers in Alabama claim that circumstances worsened after the lawsuit. Last year, thousands of incarcerated workers in the state initiated a strike, protesting inhumane living conditions and a meager parole release rate of approximately 10%. According to strike organizer Diyawn Caldwell, the situation amounts to a "living death sentence" for those without a set release date, with more individuals leaving in "body bags" than through parole. She emphasized, "There's no way out." The complex web of issues within Alabama's prison system continues to raise serious questions about the treatment and rights of incarcerated individuals.

In their pursuit of justice and humane conditions within Alabama's prison system, incarcerated individuals articulated a set of demands, including enhanced medical treatment, consistent parole guidelines, the repeal of the state's habitual offender law, the elimination of life-without-parole sentences, and the establishment of a conviction integrity unit to address wrongful convictions. Governor Kay Ivey dismissed these demands as "unreasonable.

Last November, amid the initiation of the strike, Alabama voters overwhelmingly supported a constitutional amendment to eliminate involuntary servitude, with 76% voting in favor. Despite this resounding mandate from the electorate, the practices of Alabama's prison labor system have persisted unchanged in the year since. The current and former prisoners, now plaintiffs in the lawsuit, assert that the state's actions constitute a violation of the state constitution and a disregard for "the will of the voters," as they are compelled to work against their will.

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