Morristown woman leads local Abolitionist movement

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By Marion Filler

Most people believe that the 13th Amendment abolished slavery once and for all after the Civil War. Not exactly. There was a specific exception: Slavery was permissible as punishment for a crime.

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.–The 13th Amendment of the U.S. Constitution

Rebecca Karger of Morristown is leading Amend the Thirteenth, a local offshoot of statewide grassroots movement, to close that loophole. She plans to petition the Morristown Council for a resolution to eliminate the exception.

The goal of Amend the Thirteenth is to garner support from as many localities as possible for a state referendum of ACR145 in November 2021. The measure would prohibit forcing an inmate to work as a penalty for a crime even if paid, but would not stop inmates from working voluntarily.

According to Karger, Hoboken, Atlantic City, Jersey City, and Paterson already have signed on. Long term, the movement hopes to build a national coalition to change the Amendment.

Karger met Dennis Febo, a leader of Amend the Thirteenth, at a Black Lives Matter event in Morristown this summer.

“He’s really my inspiration,” said Karger, 37.  Febo, a faculty member of The New Jersey City University, has crisscrossed New Jersey to drum up support.

“You would think that changing the Amendment would be a no-brainer,” said Karger. “But some people think it should be a financial debate. The truth is, it’s a completely a moral debate.”

She says inmates are being exploited as cheap — and sometimes free — labor.

“In New Jersey, the prisoners do not have a choice,”  Karger said.

When they are paid, it’s pennies on the dollar, with maximum topping out around $3 per hour. Usually, she said, it’s much less than that.

With the vastly disproportionate number of black prisoners in American jails, this low-wage system amounts to 21st century slavery, Karger contends.

Prison labor is no longer about a few license plates. DEPTCOR, New Jersey’s correctional industry program, employs 900 prisoners who produce furniture, garments, textiles, silk screening/embroidery, bedding, and provide services including graphics and printing, according to its website.

It’s a national phenomenon. In April 2020, U.S. News & World Reports said approximately 1.3 million inmates  are deployed in emergency services such as firefighting, farm labor, disinfecting hazardous sites, and grave digging.

The magazine also cited evidence that COVID-19 is a problem among prisoners because corrections officials are not practicing the recommended social distancing in crowded living and working conditions.

“Right now, we are focusing on the law to make sure that slavery in any form is no longer allowed. Change will not start at all if we don’t start by making slavery illegal,” said Karger, a lifelong Morristown resident. She plans to channel her interest in civil rights into law- and social work degrees once her daughter is out of high school.

SHIFT WORK AT THE MORRIS COUNTY JAIL

At the Morris County Jail, inmates are paid between 75 cents (housing unit sanitation) to $3 (kitchen work) per shift. Other jobs range from assorted sanitation tasks to barbers, laundry workers and medical filekeepers.

Participation is voluntary and there are no consequences if an individual no longer wishes to work, Sheriff James Gannon said.

“Many inmates voluntarily seek job assignments at the correctional facility as an option to pass the time productively and earn some money. They are paid through a specific inmate welfare fund, not through taxpayer funds,” Gannon told Morristown Green.

The Morris County Jail. Photo by Kevin Coughlin
The Morris County Jail. Photo by Kevin Coughlin

As of Monday, 35 of 185 inmates at the county jail in Morris Township were voluntarily working jobs, said the Sheriff’s spokesperson, Peggy Wright.

Last year, the jail began offering a four-week food handling course through Aramark Corp.’s In2Work Program. Two classes of inmates voluntarily took the 40-hour class to earn certificates in kitchen basics and safe food handling, which is required by most restaurants, Wright said.

Inmates who complete this program receive a college credit from the County College of Morris, which waives its application fee for those who wish to pursue  culinary- and hospitality program studies.

Judges may sentence minor offenders to the Sheriff’s Labor Assistance Program (SLAP), which allows them to avoid incarceration by performing supervised, unskilled labor at libraries, fairs, recycling centers and schools (during summer breaks), according to the sheriff’s website. These unpaid stints enable offenders to continue working in their regular jobs, Wright said.

County lockups technically are not considered prisons in New Jersey; persons cannot be sentenced to more than 364 days there.

Karger is asking concerned citizens to log into the Morristown Council’s virtual meeting at 7:30 pm on Sept. 22, 2020, or to contact council members.

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2 COMMENTS

  1. Nonsense. What are the costs of incarceration? Who pays them? Isn’t it better for people to work? Indolence is the preference? Sponsor a cause, if you must, that has some worth.

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