Dateline: Denver, USABy: Charles CorryFrom: Equal Justice Foundation (Affiliate of the ACFC) Via: The Honor Network
Under Color of Law Contemporary Slavery Thrives in the United States
Priority News Exchange Program News Item (PNEP)
It is always comforting to point the finger elsewhere when discussing unpleasant topics like slavery, and Prof. Nanda at The Denver Post does that well. However, before we tell the rest of the world how to live we should clean up our own house.Prof. Nanda mentions the 13th Amendment but doesn't bother with the provision that prohibits involuntary servitude. Indentured servitude is so prevalent today that Congressman George Miller (D-CA) introduced the Indentured Servitude Abolition Act of 2007 in March. Hundreds of thousands of men and women are currently working under terms of indentured servitude on H1-B and H-2 visas, among other federal programs, and more are being brought here every year.Then there is slavery associated with paternity fraud in which a man is forced to pay for children DNA testing conclusively shows are not his. A reasonable estimate is that 1.4 to 1.6 million men in the United States are so enslaved. And thanks to state senators Steve Johnson (R) and Shawn Mitchell (R), Colorado has the most draconian provisions of any state. Once a divorce is final or a paternity judgement has been entered, even if by default, the man is forced to pay support until the child's 19th birthday. And failure to pay results in prison, among other draconian penalties.Prof. Nanda correctly notes that debt bondage is the most prevalent form of modern slavery but says nothing about the millions of divorced fathers whose income has been "imputed" by a court. Based on that fictitious number, child support payments are ordered that can be more than the man actually earns. He is then forever in bondage under the Bradley Amendment. Again, failure to pay results in prison and other merciless penalties. Suicide is all too often seen as the only way out by such men. And families are destroyed as surely as when fathers were sold down the river.Now Colorado state senator John Morse (D) has pushed through a bill (SB07-136) that allows any woman to claim abuse and force a man to support her by filing an ex parte restraining order. And abuse is defined as anything a woman wants to claim it is, while the man is given virtually no chance to defend himself before becoming enslaved in absentia by such orders.As best I can tell at least 20% of the prisoners in our county jail are there basically because they were first enslaved, while their children run wild in gangs on our streets. Meanwhile companies like Maximus, the Halliburton of child support, grow rich on human trafficking. And while Tony Blair may have expressed "deep sorrow" for Britain's role in promoting slavery, American politicians continue to foster it. As a result, contemporary forms of slavery flourish in the "land of the free." Thus, any "new, comprehensive global human rights treaty" must address the modern American framework of slavery as a first priority.For more of Chucks work click the link below:http://www.honornetwork.com/CharleCorry.html
