Imprisoned workers sue Alabama to abolish involuntary servitude 

Suit challenges constitutionality of government actions to punish resistance to forced labor among majority-Black prison population  by the Center for Constitutional Rights Montgomery, Ala. – On International Workers’ Day, six incarcerated people brought a state court lawsuit against Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey and Alabama Department of Corrections (ADOC) Commissioner John Hamm with the goal of abolishing involuntary servitude in the state’s prisons. They are asking a state court to declare that recently enacted state laws and policies violate the state constitution, which, as of only two years ago, makes slavery and involuntary servitude illegal in prison.& A notorious prison system, Alabama’s is the most overcrowded in the country, operating at over 168% capacity, and, while Black people make up 26% of the state population, they account for 53% of the prison population. Until the fall of 2022, Alabama still permitted slavery and involuntary servitude in prisons, exploiting an infamous loophole in the Alabama Constitution and the 13th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. But 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 first of...