Want to be a firefighter in Georgia? Get sent to jail

[NNN0LHI]

http://teamsternation.blogspot.com/2011/09/ga-county-uses-inmate-firefighters.html

GA county uses inmate firefighters

Friday, September 9, 2011

We were flabbergasted to learn Sumter County, Ga., uses prison inmates as firefighters. To save money.

Sumter County officials use a nice phrase to disguise the ugly reality. They say they have "inmate firefighters." Here's Brent Williams, the Chairman of the Sumter County Board of Commissioners:

The combination of buying good used equipment and using inmate fire fighters saved a tremendous amount of money...the savings in insurance alone, will more than outweigh any costs that they've been paying for fire protection fees to the county.

It's SLAVE LABOR, people. It takes jobs from law-abiding citizens and it encourages the massive incarceration of our population. Oh, and it's disgusting.

[JustAnotherGen]

1. Slavery - By Any Other Name

It's nothing new.

http://www.slaverybyanothername.com/pbs-film/

That crap has been going on since Reconstruction . . . This time? A state got caught.

[Brickbat]

2. Agree, it's slave labor. Shameful.

[TheMastersNemesis]

3. It Is Worse Than Slave Labor

Using inmates is a violation of a public trust and a threat to the safety and general welfare of citizens. There is NEVER any excuse to use these people. THEY ARE NOT PROPERLY TRAINED for the job. Brent Williams should be thrown out of his office on his ass literally. There are times when it is ok to be angry even ballistic. There are some things citizens should not stand for.

Now we all know what a Romney presidency and GOP regime would mean. What next? Pedophiles in day care centers?

[Webster Green]

4. They often use prisoners for firefighting in CA.

I had to chase a bunch of them out of one of my pot patches one time, when they were in our area fighting a wild-fire. They didn't even know that the stuff was two months away from being ready to harvest.

[izquierdista]

5. Georgia -- never say they aren't ingenious!

Figuring out workarounds on the 13th Amendment for going on 150 years.

[Tommy_Carcetti]

6. Why don't they just send in Brian Beckmann? nt

[Riftaxe]

7. It is not slave labor at all

Unless you believe slavery involved the slaves volunteering and being compensated for their labor (and if you do... ) .

Trying to make that a rally cry, sort of explains why the blogger had to presumably search long and hard to find an article to link to that was so factually light.

[melm00se]

8. I would think that

someone would have brought suit if this was illegal (on the local, state or federal level) don't you think?