Slavery: Alive and Prospering in California

UC Berkeley law professor releases new report on hidden slavery in California By Janet Gilmore, Media Relations | 23 February 2005 BERKELEY – Laurel Fletcher, a University of California, Berkeley, law professor and researcher with the campus's Human Rights Center, has released a new report from the center on forced labor in California and will testify about the findings Friday (Feb. 25) during a hearing before state lawmakers in Los Angeles. The report, "Freedom Denied: Forced Labor in California," follows an in influential national report that the center released on this issue last fall in Washington. D.C. The new report looks at the nature and scope of the problem in California, finding that such cases take place across the state, although 80 percent of the incidents occur in the just three metropolitan areas -- the San Francisco Bay Area, Los Angeles, and San Diego metro areas. Individuals are forced into prostitution, domestic service, and sweatshop work, often with little or no compensation, according to the report. The report recommends that California legislators enact new criminal laws against forced labor, train law enforcement offers to recognize forced labor situations, and increase critical support services -- such as safe housing and access to legal counsel -- for forced labor victims. The report will be on the Human Rights Center's Web site: http://www.hrcberkeley.org/...

You can read the complete report HERE.

This (slavery in California) is an abomination in every way. Yet, I'll bet it's not even on Groperzenegger's agenda. It's the elephant in the room here in Los Angeles, because everyone's heard about it, suspects that many of the people we see waiting at bus stops are victims of it, and yet are otherwise apatheic to the whole hideous issue.

Hey, California Progressives: Too burnt out from the 2004 election? Too lazy to get off your butts to protest the Iraq War? Well how about getting up and doing something about this? Or are you really just Republicans in Liberals' clothing?