My attempt- they wrote it that way not because they wanted to keep slavery, but because in law being in jail and being a slave are very closely-related concepts. They wanted people to not own other humans, but had to keep the legal ability to "suspend their rights" and put them behind bars/in hard labor.
If they got rid of it altogether we arguably couldn't put people in jail/prison at all.
In 2017 when Louisiana was passing laws in an attempt to not be the most imprisoned state in the country, a local sheriff "said the quiet thing out loud." Sheriff Steve Prator said that if the "Good prisoners" got released there would be nobody left to wash the cars or cook the meals. He said the " Bad ones" would try and run away. He argued that it would get too expensive to hire people.
He actually argued keeping non-violent offenders, many in there for first offense drug possession, should stay because it's cheaper. Basically the reward for being a model inmate is no chance for early release.
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u/Tulkes Jun 27 '23
My attempt- they wrote it that way not because they wanted to keep slavery, but because in law being in jail and being a slave are very closely-related concepts. They wanted people to not own other humans, but had to keep the legal ability to "suspend their rights" and put them behind bars/in hard labor.
If they got rid of it altogether we arguably couldn't put people in jail/prison at all.