yes but except as a punishment for crime whereof has been refined with further case law I believe. You can be forced to do small jobs, clean up. You can be assigned Road Crew and pickup trash. You can do small jobs that the system won't hire and pay for, they'll use you. So long as you aren't a risk of flight, to the officers, or to society if you have to interact with the public.

Beats sitting in a cinderblock white-painted cell with a metal cot and 4" mattress.

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qingcharles 4 days ago | parent | next [-]

Yes, you don't need to be convicted to be forced into labor under the 13th. Pretrial detainees can be forced to do "housekeeping chores" and not violate the constitution.

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LocalH 3 days ago | parent | next [-]

This shows that the government (all branches) has always ignored the Constitution. It clearly says in the 13th that it requires the person to be "duly convicted".

	▲	qingcharles 3 days ago \| parent [-]
		There was a lawsuit, and the US Supreme Court interpreted the 13th amendment and carved out an exception, because of course they did.

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reactordev 4 days ago | parent | prev [-]

That actually is a good point, in the US justice system, you’re guilty until proven innocent (for most people).

Just the fact that you have a case has ruined lives.

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MangoToupe 3 days ago | parent | prev | next [-]

I would certainly prefer to jerk off in my cell over working for pennies on the dollar.

But it doesn't matter, really. Either we have rights as humans or we don't. Qualifying them erodes protections for us all.

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kelnos 4 days ago | parent | prev [-]

> Beats sitting in a cinderblock white-painted cell with a metal cot and 4" mattress.

Does it, though? One might prefer that over slave labor.