The Thirteenth Amendment states that, “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.”
In their demands, prisoners called for an end to unpaid labor, arguing that the practice is “hyper-exploitative, unjust and amounts to prison slavery.”
At the Holman facility, inmates also asked for monetary damages for “mental pain and physical abuse” that they have already suffered.
“We hear those concerns all the time and sometimes particularly in respect to conditions, those are concerns that are in many cases valid,” Department of Corrections Commissioner Jeff Dunn told WSFA when asked about the demands. “Our facilities are run down, our facilities are not in the best shape they can be. Obviously with the Alabama Prison Transformation Initiative, we are trying to address that.”
That initiative is looking to shut down multiple state prisons in order to construct new, larger facilities to accommodate inmates.
According to Bob Horton of the state corrections department, the strikes began when inmates who were supposed to help prepare food for the prisoners chose not to work on May 1. Over the course of a week and a half, more inmates joined the strike.
Officials have maintained that the healthcare needs of inmates are being met, but some prisoners have objected.
“The food is a blatant violation and these violations are the reason that we even formed a strike from the start,” one wrote to The Intercept. “We [are] not supposed to be fed the way they are feeding us, it is not 2300 or 2200 calories that we are suppose[d] to be getting that they have been serving us for ten days straight.”
“We are weak, feeling nauseated and having headaches from the lack of balanced meals.”
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