Incarcerated Workers in Alabama File Lawsuit to End Involuntary Servitude | Black Agenda Report

Incarcerated Workers in Alabama File Lawsuit to End Involuntary Servitude

Black Agenda Radio with Margaret Kimberley

10 May 2024

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Black Agenda Radio · Incarcerated Workers in Alabama File Lawsuit to End Involuntary Servitude

Six incarcerated people in the state of Alabama have filed a lawsuit against their governor and the Commissioner of Corrections. Alabama’s prison system is the most overcrowded in the country, where Black people make up 26 percent of the population, but 53 percent of the prison population. Following a successful labor strike by incarcerated workers, Alabama voters approved an amendment to the state constitution that expanded the ban on slavery and involuntary servitude to prison. With their state court lawsuit, the plaintiffs seek enforcement of the amendment. Jessica Vosburgh is a senior staff attorney at the Center for Constitutional Rights which represents the plaintiffs. She joins us from Birmingham, Alabama.

Prison Labor

Alabama prison strike

Center for Constitutional Rights

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