After the Civil War, the federal government and pro-Union states carved out an exception to the 13th Amendment, preserving for themselves -- to this day -- the power to enslave people (as punishment for crime).
While I harbor no delusion that a government actually could use this power given today's politics, the power nonetheless is there.
So as a purely theoretical civil-rights question:
Should those convicted of murder become slaves for life? Should the government give such enslaved criminals to the victims' families? Or rather, should the government retain control, while giving percentages of the slave-labor profits to victims' families?
Should buying and selling of such slaves be allowed?
Which crimes merit enslavement? What about temporary enslavement?
13th Amendment, Section 1 (my emphasis): Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, except as punishment for crime wherof the party shall have been duly convicted, shall exist withing the United States, or any place subject to their jurisdiction.
While I harbor no delusion that a government actually could use this power given today's politics, the power nonetheless is there.
So as a purely theoretical civil-rights question:
Should those convicted of murder become slaves for life? Should the government give such enslaved criminals to the victims' families? Or rather, should the government retain control, while giving percentages of the slave-labor profits to victims' families?
Should buying and selling of such slaves be allowed?
Which crimes merit enslavement? What about temporary enslavement?
13th Amendment, Section 1 (my emphasis): Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, except as punishment for crime wherof the party shall have been duly convicted, shall exist withing the United States, or any place subject to their jurisdiction.