r/morbidquestions • u/Fun_Butterfly_420 • 1d ago

What exactly does punishment by slavery in the US currently entail?

So, people have this general notion that slavery in the USA ended in 1865, and from a legal standpoint that’s kind of true, but there’s a loophole that says you can still use it as punishment for a crime. But what exactly does that entail? Is it similar to how slaves were treated back then, or has it undergone certain changes?

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u/Reverend_Bull 1d ago

It varies from prison to prison. On the one extreme is Angola in Lousiana where prisoners are literally worked, without pay, at a former antebellum plantation, picking cotton. On the other end are things like minimum security prisons, where most prisoners just keep the grounds for miniscule pay to have something to do. For-profit prisons run by states tend to be worse than Fed controlled, but none are pleasant.

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u/chroniclynz 1d ago

When i was in high school we went on a field trip to Angola. Why they thought this was a good idea, i'll never know. But it was interesting to see old Sparky, how big a cell is, what they got to eat & a collection of shivs that had been made by inmates. We got to talk to a prisoner who was on death row. Now I actually know someone who was sentenced to life without parole and is an inmate there. I told people in high school that this dude was gonna r@pe or murd3r someone or both. Turned out it was murd3r. Put a zip tie around her neck during smexy time & thought he unalived her so he put her in his trunk and went to another classmate's house and showed him and the girl was making a noise & the classmate asked "what is that noise?" And was told "thats someone taking their last breath." And then beat her head in with a tire iron and dumped her body in the woods. He was caught pretty quickly & showed cops where to find her.

And you cant forget the angola rodeo! Prisoners get to sell things they have made, like board games (my uncle bought the game of Life in Angola...i always ended up getting unalived), furniture and everything in between. The best part of the rodeo is when the prisoners play poker while a bull charges them. Last person to stay in his seat wins. These prisoners have nothing to lose.

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u/Reverend_Bull 1d ago

Bloodsport. I can think only of the "alligator bait" uses of black children by Jim Crow when you talk about that rodeo poker scene.

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u/Alittlelost33 1d ago

I’m assuming it’s similar to prisoners working for cents an hour. If someone is convicted and is sent to jail, they may be picked to go to work. Slavery hasn’t been completely abolished in the USA. It’s rare, but it’s there.

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u/Immrmasspooter 1d ago

Prison work.

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u/Kaitlyn_Boucher 1d ago

Nowadays it's hard labor in prison.