A 21st Century Slave by Christopher Ridley

My name is Chris R. I am currently housed in a minimum custody facility by the state of North Carolina. I have been incarcerated since February 2003. I have a projected release date in March 2028. I am a twenty-first century slave.

Would you toil in the kitchen for hours preparing meals for 1500 people, seven days a week, for $1.25 a day? Would you clean bathrooms used by hundreds of people, seven days a week, for 40 cents a day? Would you do any of this for no compensation? No? Welcome to the world of prison labor – slavery by another name.

Are you aware that in 2024, slavery is authorized by the United States Constitution? Section 1 of the thirteenth amendment reads, “neither slavery nor involuntary servitude except as a punishment of crime whereof the party shall have been duly convicted, shall exist within the United States, or any place subject to their jurisdiction”.

Article 1, section 17 of the State Constitution of North Carolina reads, “Slavery is forever prohibited. Involuntary servitude, except as a punishment for a crime where the parties have been adjudged, is forever prohibited”.

These are known as the “Exception Clause” or “Punishment Clause”, seventeen other states have similar language in their state constitutions.

In plain English these clauses mean that if you have been convicted of a crime you can be subjected to slavery and involuntary servitude. These clauses apply whether you are incarcerated or not. Something to think about.

The United States supreme court in the 1988 case, United States vs. Kozminski”, defined involuntary solitude for the purpose of criminal prosecution as, “A condition of servitude in which the victim Is forced to work for the defendant by the use of threat of physical restraint or physical injury or by the use of threat of coercion through law or legal process.

The American Heritage College Dictionary defines slavery as, “The state of one bund in servitude as the property of a slaveholder or household.

The Supreme court’s definition of involuntary servitude sounds an awful like the definition of slavery. The North Carolina General Statutes and the North Carolina Department of Adult Corrections policies spell out the disciplinary action for refusing to work-loss of good time credits and segregation.

I’m going to close today with a request on behalf of myself and the two million incarcerated across the country. Go online and find your states constitution. Read through it to see if your state still authorizes slavery or involuntary servitude as a punishment for being guilty of a crime. If it does, send your state legislator an email and ask “why”?

I’ll have more on this subject next month.

Christopher D. Ridley #0809968

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