Federal Appeals Court Strongly Suggests Vermont Prison Violated Anti-Slavery Amendment
By Aviva Shen on Aug 8, 2012 at 3:40 pm
A Vermont man’s lawsuit alleging a state penitentiary forced him to work against his will has been allowed to move forward. A three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit found that the former inmate, Finbar McGarry, is entitled to a trial even though a lower court dismissed his case. McGarry is claiming his rights were violated under the Thirteenth Amendment, which outlawed slavery and involuntary servitude after the Civil War.
McGarry, who was at the time working on a chemistry PhD at the University of Vermont, was arrested in 2008 on a domestic disturbance charge and was sent to jail when bail was denied. As he awaited trial, he claims he was forced to work in a prison laundry at the Chittenden Regional Correctional Facility in South Burlington for three days a week up to 14 hours. He was paid just 25 cents an hour for six weeks.
When McGarry got an infection on his neck and refused to work, he was threatened with solitary confinement. A month before charges were dropped and he was released in 2009, McGarry sued for $11 million in damages. According to the Second Circuit, McGarry appears to have a pretty strong case:
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http://thinkprogress.org/justice/2012/08/08/651501/federal-appeals-court-strongly-suggests-vermont-prison-violated-anti-slavery-amendment/
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