slavery in Kentucky

Slavery is still legal in KY: as per the 13th amendment and KY's constitutional match of that exception clause in Section 25, which says that those convicted of a crime may be enslaved or forced into involuntary servitude.

The USA is the only nation that exempts its citizens from basic human rights as decreed in the United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights, which names slavery as a crime against humanity.
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The following list of characteristics of Pre-Civil War slavery and Legal Modern-Day slavery shows that the US and KY are maintaining a system of enslavement. 

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​Characteristics of Legal Pre-Civil War Slavery

Owning slaves, especially those who could reproduce, was considered the zenith of wealth.





Free Black and brown people were immediately enslaved when caught moving about without a white person’s oversight

White overseers were enticed to take on brutal tasks with a promise of alliance with elite white enslavers.

Only rarely could an enslaved person purchase their freedom.



Enslaved people were not allowed to own property or to have money to spend.


​Enslaved people were cared for as property would be cared for, in order to maintain functionality. 




Families were torn apart by slave-trading. Tens of thousands of enslaved people were ‘sold down the river’ from Louisville, forever separated from their families. 


Enslaved people who had lighter skin were often given jobs in the enslaver’s house.

Enslaved people were not allowed an education.



Enslaved people received no financial or material benefits.


There was no such thing as post enslavement.






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​Enslaved people were not allowed to experience any benefit or satisfaction from their labor.

​​Characteristics of ​Legal Modern-Day Slavery

Kentucky incarcerates 40% more per capita than the national average and benefits financially from every bed filled. Industries that benefit include government employees, special phone companies, commissary vendors, release card and money transfer industries, among others.

Plea bargaining for more than 95% of KY prisoners means there is no trial, no jury, and no proof of guilt, and no council on implications of the plea agreement.

Police brutality, inhumane conditions, and PTSD are common for KY prison guards. 

Incarceration for pre-trial individuals who can’t afford cash bail. From 1985 to 2015 there was a 287% increase in the number of people incarcerated; pre-trial detainees in 2015 constituted 43% of the incarcerated population.

Excessive commissary expenses, phone call costs, fees, and miscellaneous fines put inmates and their families in a financial hole.

Prison workers are not protected by standard labor laws like safety training and protection, overtime protection, and minimum wage. Worse than pre-Civil War, there is no incentive to care for human ‘property’ because there is always a replacement available. 

Destruction of families (3 of every 5 KY inmates are parents); 32,700 children are impacted, giving KY the highest percentage (13% vs 7% national average) in the US.

Racial discrimination is a factor in how prison jobs are assigned.

School to prison pipeline in marginalized communities. KY Black students make up 10% of the population and 36% of student arrests.

Prison wages in KY range from $0.12 per hour to $1.58 per day. Wages can be garnished up to 80% for court costs, room and board, restitution and other fees.

Prison jobs do not provide training for employment post-incarceration. Community re-entry is fraught with discrimination that limits opportunities in education, employment, and housing. In KY today, prisoners are incarcerated for decades past the window of possibility that they will commit another crime. They are assumed to be dead to the state, i.e., they experience a civil death in losing voting privileges for the rest of their lives, even after their prison term is completed.

Farms run by KY’s correctional system bring in $1.3 to $1.5 million/year, but no goods are used for the benefit of inmates whose labor keeps the farms running. 

Most of the information about Modern-Day Slavery can be found in the Vera Report, August 2023, on KY incarceration. https://www.vera.org/downloads/publications/the-criminalization-of-poverty-in-kentucky-report.pdf. Other sources, such as the www.abolitiontoday.org and www.prisonpolicy.org corroborate findings.