Lawsuit challenges Alabama inmate labor system as ‘modern day slavery’

MONTGOMERY, Ala. (AP) — Current and former inmates of the Alabama prison system have filed a lawsuit challenging the prison labor program. The lawsuit filed Tuesday in federal court says prisoners are forced to work for little and sometimes even no pay in jobs that benefit government entities or private companies. They called it a kind of ”modern day slavery.” The class-action lawsuit also accuses the state of maintaining a discriminatory parole system with a low release rate that ensures a supply of laborers from a disproportionately Black workforce. The Alabama Department of Corrections declined to comment on the lawsuit. The state has previously maintained that prison and work release jobs prepare inmates for life after incarceration.