Apparently, not all judges along I-95 are lost. Today the Third Circuit decided Burrell v. Staff. The plaintiffs argued that violations of labor laws amounted to involuntary servitude, in violation of the Thirteenth Amendment. The majority opinion rejected those claims in light of modern precedent.
From Zavala we derive the principle that using an otherwise legal process for a purpose for which it was not created or intended to be used is not, on its own, sufficient to constitute the threat of legal sanction necessary to find a Thirteenth Amendment violation. Here, restricting access to the work release program and threatening plaintiffs with serving the entirety of their otherwise legal contempt sentences is akin to the threats of deportation in Zavala. Because plaintiffs do not sufficiently allege involuntary servitude, they fail to state a Thirteenth Amendment § 1983 claim on which relief can be granted, and we will affirm the District Court's dismissal of those claims.
Judge Matey concurred, and included a lengthy footnote concerning the original meaning of the Thirteenth Amendment.
