Indentured Servitude In The United States

[ZiprHead]

They thought they were going to rehab. They ended up in chicken plants

"There wasn’t much substance abuse treatment at CAAIR. It was mostly factory work for one of America’s top poultry companies. If McGahey got hurt or worked too slowly, his bosses threatened him with prison.

And he worked for free. CAAIR pocketed the pay.

“It was a slave camp,” McGahey said. “I can’t believe the court sent me there.”

 

[J842P]

These judges, and the chicken company execs, should go to prison for life.

 

[repoman]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kids_for_cash_scandal

The property and cash holdings of these judges need a good investigation.

 

[Loren Pechtel]

These judges, and the chicken company execs, should go to prison for life.

No, they should be made to work in a chicken plant for life.

 

[Jolly_Penguin]

Across the country, judges increasingly are sending defendants to rehab instead of prison or jail. These diversion courts have become the bedrock of criminal justice reform, aiming to transform lives and ease overcrowded prisons.

But in the rush to spare people from prison, some judges are steering defendants into rehabs that are little more than lucrative work camps for private industry, an investigation by Reveal from The Center for Investigative Reporting has found.

The programs promise freedom from addiction. Instead, they’ve turned thousands of men and women into indentured servants.

The beneficiaries of these programs span the country, from Fortune 500 companies to factories and local businesses. The defendants work at a Coca-Cola bottling plant in Oklahoma, a construction firm in Alabama, a nursing home in North Carolina.

The basic idea behind this isn't a bad one. It obviously went awry. Getting treatment rather than jail is a good idea. So is working of a debt to society with actual work, but only if that work is for society and not private industry. And I am hesitant to take this view for fear of judge corruption.