Slavery is illegal in the United States, as declared in the 13th Amendment of the Constitution. Slavery is considered any situation in which one person controls the life, liberty, and fortune of another. All forms of slavery are considered immoral and evil in the United States and no person is permitted to be sold into involuntary servitude in any way or for any service. Slavery also includes nay situation in which the individual is held against his or her will as a result of force, coercion, or imprisonment, regardless of whether or not that person is paid for his or her labor. Every person in the United States has the right to personal freedom, and when that freedom is usurped it is considered the illegal act of enslaving someone.
Slavery was the core value at the heart of the Civil War in 1860, and was completely abolished in all its forms with the enactment of the Thirteenth Amendment in 1865. Section one of that amendment declares that neither slaver nor involuntary servitude is permitted except as punishment for a crime that has been legally tried in court and the offender has been found guilty. While the original concept of slavery, which targeted African Americans in the USA, has been abolished and is no longer an issue, slavery in some forms still exists. These slavery relationships are always illegal and captors or masters can be punished by due process of the law for keeping slaves without paying them or holding them against their will.
According to Fox News, a woman recently came out and claimed that she has been held captive and forced to work for a wealthy couple with little pay and no way of escape. The woman is from Bali, and has risen up against Rose and Lawrence Hasley of Water Mill after determining that their treatment of her was illegal. The woman says that she was forced into indentured servant hood for three years. The wealthy couple from the Hamptons lives on a street which bears their last name in a massive mansion. They are denying the fact that they forced this Indonesian plaintiff to work brutal hours every day with little to no pay.
The plaintiff claims that she was fired to work at their home business on Hasley Lane and was told she would earn $450 a month at the job. Assuming that she was working a desk job in a prominent business, the Indonesian woman agreed to come on board. She was also told that she would receive 9-to-5 hours and room and board as a part of her business package. She was also told that the arrangement would grant her permanent legal status in the United States, which would guarantee her ability to avoid deportment back to Indonesia. The deal sounded too good to be true, and the immigrant agreed to the arrangement promptly.
Yet when she arrived at her place of employment, the unfortunate woman realized that her job did not reflect the description in any way. Instead, Ms. Sulastri was forced to work 15 hour days and love on only $350 a month. She was housed in a small, cramped closed and fed only the leftovers from the Hamptons luxurious meals or hot dogs when the couple was out. She says that the closet provided no air conditioning or heat, and in extreme temperatures she would freeze or burn while trying to sleep.
When she complained about the conditions, the Hasley’s allegedly told her that nothing is free in America. Police are still investigating the situation, which could spark a criminal trial and send the Hasleys to jail for their crimes. If you have been charged with enforcing involuntary servitude upon a victim, you can end up in prison for up to 20 years and be issued fines up to $50,000. If the victim does not suffer substantial bodily harm while in servitude, then the men and women who forced that victim into slavery can be forced to spend at least 5 years in prison and no more than 20 years.
They will still have to pay up to $50,000 in fines, plus damages to the offended individual. Each state has their own statues concerning involuntary servitude, but the definition commonly remains the same. According to the Nevada Penal Code, any person who knowingly subjects or attempts to subject another person to forced servitude by causing physical harm, threatening, physical restraining, abusing, or extorting that person is guilty of slavery charges. This is also true when the offender conceals or destroys the victim’s passport or other immigration document, is in the case of Ms. Sulaski. Talk to a criminal defense lawyer today if you are facing these charges and need representation.
