Involuntary Servitude in North Carolina

It is important to educate those unaware that involuntary servitude still exists in the state as a punishment for crime. To best summarize this we need to take a look into the history of how this exceptions clause came to be in North Carolina, as well as other places in the United States

The consequence of this exception towards involuntary servitude being imposed as criminal punishment can be traced back all the way towards Article 6 of the Northwest Ordinance of 1787, where former American Framer and President Thomas Jefferson is credited for authoring the Ordinance to say as follows:

“Article 6: ‘There shall be neither slavery nor involuntary servitude in the said territory, otherwise than in the punishment of crimes, whereof the party shall have been duly convicted: Provided, always, That any person escaping into the same, from whom labor or service is lawfully claimed in any one of the original States, such fugitive may be lawfully reclaimed and conveyed to the person claiming his or her labor for service as aforesaid.”

Following the conclusion of the American Civil War, Lyman Trumbull, the Illinois Senator who wrote the federal 13th Amendment, drafted the bill to Congress resembling almost identical wording to the Northwest Ordinance, which eventually got approved and ratified by the states as an official amendment to the Constitution of the United States.

“Article 13, Section 1: ‘Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, except as a punishment for crime whereof the party shall have been duly convicted, shall exist within the United States, or any place subject to their jurisdiction.’”

Ever since the ratification of the 13th Amendment, 25 states adopted the same language into their state constitutions. Whilst several states were drafting their constitutions to prohibit some forms of slavery and involuntary servitude, there was ambiguity as residents of each state did not know if slavery and involuntary servitude was still constitutionally protected as criminal punishment. In 1868, North Carolina decided to add an exceptions clause in Article 1, Section 17 of its state constitution allowing involuntary servitude as criminal punishment:

“Article 1, Section 17: ‘Slavery is forever prohibited. Involuntary servitude, except as a punishment for crime whereof the parties have been adjudged guilty, is forever prohibited.’”

This exception to keep involuntary servitude as criminal punishment whilst outlawing all forms of slavery in our state’s constitution may appeal to our residents as an accomplishment that no longer needs to be fixed. In other words, keeping the status quo should be the best thing to do. Don’t be deceived, as involuntary servitude is literally slavery by another name, according to Black’s Law Dictionary:

Involuntary servitude: “term use when a person is forced to work against his will. Slavery.”

In our state, involuntary servitude is defined in Chapter 14, Article 10A of the North Carolina General Statutes, as the following:

“Chapter 14, Article 10A: ‘Involuntary servitude – The term includes the following: (a) The performance of labor, whether or not for compensation, or whether or not for the satisfaction of a debt; AND (b) By deception, coercion, or intimidation using violence or the threat of violence or by any other means of coercion of intimidation.’”

In other words, this condenses down to forcing someone to work against their will, and using manipulative, decisive techniques to either use violent measures or physical violence itself in accomplishing such labor. Having any prison or parole officer be extensively trained on this skill when a convicted person refuses to engage in involuntary servitude presents a major moral issue when it comes to the purpose and institution of corrections itself.

The same statute also states that keeping any person in involuntary servitude is the same offense as human trafficking:

“A person commits the offense of human trafficking when that person (i) knowingly or in reckless disregard of the consequences of the action recruits, entices, harbors, transports, provides, or obtains by any means another person with the intent that the other person be held in involuntary servitude or sexual servitude.”

Information on how convicts are supposed to engage in forced labor in prisons is also in the North Carolina inmate handbook:

“[A]ll able-bodied prison inmates [or persons on parole] shall be required to perform diligently all work assignments provided for them. The failure of any inmate to perform such a work assignment may result in disciplinary action.”

Most disciplinary actions taken on incarcerated and parole persons who refuse to be subjected to involuntary servitude, as defined by the North Carolina Inmate Disciplines sheet, results in a Class B Discipline, which can have the following punishments:

“Class B: Disciplinary Segregation [solitary confinement] (45 days), Loss of Credit Time (30 days), Extra Duty (40 hours), Demotion (Minimum to Medium), Loss of Privileges (Loss of 2 not to exceed 4 months), Limited Draw ($10.00 not to exceed 4 months).”

The North Carolina inmate handbook also prohibits those serving a sentence in this state to petition their government for a redress of grievances if they felt like they have suffered a consequence from involuntary servitude in trying to challenge this infliction being administered on them, which is a direct violation of the 1st Amendment to the United States Constitution in the right to petition any government subject to the jurisdiction of the United States for a redress of grievances:

“Certain grievances will not be accepted. Grievances will be rejected whenever inmates [or persons on parole] seek to challenge: (a) State or Federal court decisions (b) Parle Commission decisions (c) Disciplinary actions; and (d) actions not yet taken.”

These have all been the consequences of allowing involuntary servitude to flourish in our prison and parole industries in North Carolina. According to the North Carolina Department of Corrections in their 2021 annual report, there are currently more than 30,000 persons incarcerated throughout 53 prisons across the state, as well as 20,000 persons convicted of a crime who are on parole totaling to more than 50,000 people where at any given time, as long as they are considered able-bodied, are subject to involuntary servitude.

Fortunately, this is where we as an organization have stepped in to make it clear that the current exceptions clause allowing involuntary servitude in North Carolina goes against the state’s values of protecting its people from these perils.