When Patricia Gailey spends her weekends educating people about Section 25 of the Kentucky Constitution, the reaction is pretty similar across the board.
“It’s a jaw drop,” Gailey said.
Section 25 allows slavery and indentured servitude as a punishment for crime.
Gailey’s organization, ABOLISH SLAVERY KY, wants to remove the Kentucky Constitution’s exception clause, thus outlawing slavery in every form.
She said inside prisons, people are often forced into involuntary servitude. Refusing isn’t an option.
“They are asked if they want to volunteer for these jobs, and if they don’t volunteer, then they run into trouble,” Gailey said. “They get beat up. They get thrown into solitary. They lose communication with their family privileges.”
According to the American Civil Liberties Union, Kentuckians in prison earn between $0.48 and $1.58 a day.
Gailey said these low wages have severe consequences for families when their loved ones are incarcerated.
Read the rest at Spectrum News.
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