prison labor

In a lawsuit filed this week, a group of current and former Alabama prisoners say they have been coerced into providing cheap labor to the state and to private employers.

The U.S. Constitution bans slavery except as punishment for a crime. A growing number of states have tried to address this in their own constitutions, but prisoners say the only change is on paper.

Michael Bloomberg is one of the world's richest men, with a net worth of about $56 billion. He said his campaign cut ties with the vendor as soon as it learned prison workers were making calls.

"We are foreign prisoners in Shanghai Qingpu prison China," the note said in English. "Forced to work against our will. Please help us and notify human rights organization."

Whole Foods has been forced to stop selling goat cheese made from milk that came from a prison farm, where inmates work for less than a dollar an hour. Yet the inmates themselves aren't complaining.