No. of Recommendations: 1
Yes, peonage lasted into the 40s, and that AZ sheriff revived chain gangs for a bit,
In principle, I have no problem with chain gangs. Chain gangs are alive and well. A friend of mine works part time as a bull for prisoner work parties for the district court in Livonia. One day, at work, I saw a van with, iirc, "Wayne County Sheriff" on it, pull up to the warehouse, and guys in red jumpsuits pile out of the van to do some sort of work. There was a big flap, some years ago. Michigan wanted to use chain gangs to clean and maintain highway right of ways. There was a big row by the employees of the various county road commissions, that prisoners would be "taking jobs away from honest people", So that chain gang proposal went nowhere. But Michigan is notorious for underfunding road maintenance, so the right of ways go untended.
Steve
