Prisoners in the US are part of a hidden workforce linked to hundreds of popular food brands
apnews.com
The Associated Press found goods linked to prisoners wind up in the supply chains of everything from Frosted Flakes to Coca-Cola.

Prisoners in the US are part of a hidden workforce linked to hundreds of popular food brands

Unmarked trucks packed with prison-raised cattle roll out of the Louisiana State Penitentiary, where men are sentenced to hard labor and forced to work, for pennies an hour or sometimes nothing at all. After rumbling down a country road to an auction house, the cows are bought by a local rancher and then followed by The Associated Press another 600 miles to a Texas slaughterhouse that feeds into the supply chains of giants like McDonald’s, Walmart and Cargill…

    • sailingbythelee@lemmy.worldEnglish
      171·
      8 months ago

      Got caught smoking a joint? Slavery for you.

      Pissed off a cop? Slavery for you, too.

      I don’t think slavery being the punishment for crime is the defense you think you think it is. It’s fucking barbaric.

      Oh yeah, and don’t try organizing for better conditions either. The leaders of the 2018 prison strike in the US were tortured via indefinite solitary confinement.

    • LucasWaffyWaf@lemmy.worldEnglish
      8·
      8 months ago

      No you don’t. It is easy to be imprisoned while innocent, such as in the case of wrongful convictions from shoddy evidence, being framed for another person’s crime, or even having fake evidence planted specifically to get a conviction.

      There are considerable amounts of people currently serving time for crimes they did not commit.

      Not to mention all the people serving time for victimless crimes such as possessing marijuana or for committing criminal acts that wouldn’t be criminal in a sensible place, such as for insulting your country’s royal family.

    • bamboo@lemm.eeEnglish
      6·
      8 months ago

      You absolutely don’t. Our court systems have mediocre accuracy, with innocent people frequently being framed or having evidence planted. Prosecutors around the country typically prioritize getting a conviction over accuracy of said conviction, for fear of being labeled “soft on crime”. The US has a long history inventing new crimes to turn already marginalized groups into “criminals” (ex, drugs to be made illegal were selected based on which demographics used them, not their effects).

    • 4am@lemm.eeEnglish
      3·
      8 months ago

      No no see you don’t; they just have to do the paperwork that says you did, give you a lawyer who can’t go up against the state and convince a jury you’re being set up, and a panel of justice-boner peers who have been taught by decades of Fox News and “true crime” podcast media that “reasonable doubt” is just something we nod and wink at rather than abide by

      And the system was designed for this. If they can’t own em legally when they’re innocent, certainly no one would offer humanity to a guilty slave.

      • Laristal@lemmy.dbzer0.comEnglish
        3·
        8 months ago

        And even if you beat all of that. You can still be crucified in the court of public opinion. As much as it may be cathartic to see x person being sent to prison for whatever reason there are significant issues with “naming and shaming” someone simply accused of a crime, of which there is a non zero chance that they are innocent. Sure name and shame them after they’re convicted if you must, to show everyone the system still works or whatever. But not before then because that stuff can seriously derail your life.