Better order an extra drink when ordering that KFC fried chicken leg or fast food burgers might if you’re in Alabama. Might make swallowing your meal easier after you read this nonsense.
Prisoner and labor groups have filed a federal class action lawsuit to dismantle the forced prison labor system in the Yellowhammer State, which generates $450 million a year by leasing prisoners to McDonald’s, KFC, Burger King and Wendy’s, according to Zane McNeil of Truthout.org.
The lawsuit, filed in the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Alabama, seeks compensation for folks exploited by the state’s prison labor system.
Now, despite a 2015 state law requiring the Alabama Bureau of Pardons and Paroles make evidence-based parole decisions, the lawsuit alleges that the state denies Black Alabamians parole at a 2 to 1 rate compared with White candidates to maintain the numbers of workers, McNeil said.
Alabama prisoners forced to work at fast food companies
“[Incarcerated people] are trapped in this labor trafficking scheme,” said the lawsuit, which was obtained by The New York Times. “Although they are trusted to perform work for the state, local governments, and a vast array of private employers, some of the same people who profit from their coerced labor have systematically shut down grants of parole, ” the lawsuit said.
The lawsuit also alleged prisoners are forced to work for little pay — and sometimes no pay — in jobs that benefit government entities or private companies.
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 while also generating money for the state.
“The forced labor scheme that currently exists in the Alabama prison system is the modern reincarnation of the notorious convict leasing system that replaced slavery after the Civil War,” said Janet Herold, the legal director of Justice Catalyst Law. Parole reforms enacted in 2015 slashed work release inmates by 40 percent in 2018.
So, Gov. Kay Ivey began targeting the parole system and rates dropped. The number of prisoners granted parole declined sharply between 2020 and 2022. The rates among Black inmates dropped even further and wait times increased, the lawsuit said.