Pollock v. Williams 322 U.S. 4 (1944)
POLLOCK v. WILLIAMS 322 U.S. 4 (1944)
A Florida statute made the failure to perform services according to an agreement (for which an advance had been made) prima facie evidence of an intent to defraud. The Supreme Court, in an opinion by Justice robert h. jackson, voided the statute, 7–2, as a violation of the thirteenth amendment and of the Anti-Peonage Act of 1867. At issue before the Court was a habeas corpus petition for "an illiterate Negro laborer in the toils of law for the want of $5." His failure to perform agreed-upon labor for that advance resulted in a $100 fine, in default of which he was sentenced to sixty days' imprisonment. Jackson held that the Thirteenth Amendment and the Anti-Peonage Act "raised both a shield and a sword against forced labor because of debt."
David Gordon
(1986)