Phoenix, June 24 (RHC)-- In the U.S. state of Arizona, a federal lawsuit filed by the NAACP and five prisoners accuses the Arizona Department of Corrections of practicing slavery and cruel and unusual punishment through private prisons.
The lawsuit says prisoners are treated like property to create profit for corporate owners and shareholders. Although the five plaintiffs are white, the lawsuit also points to the disproportionate effect mass incarceration has on Black and Brown people, who make up over half of Arizona’s prison population.