Tracy L. Meares

About the author: Tracy L. Meares is an assistant professor at the University of Chicago Law School and contributes columns regularly to U.S. Catholic.

Chain gangs originated in the late nineteenth century as a mechanism to keep African Americans in servitude after emancipation. Today, the use of chain gangs by prisons bears a disturbing similarity to slavery, especially since African Americans comprise a large percentage of the prison population. Chain gangs are inhumane, and have little effect reducing crime, the costs of imprisonment, and recidivism rates.

Imagine the following scene: it's a hot summer day. The sun is beating down on African-American men. They are shackled to each other as they chop weeds for 12 hours. Armed guards and panting dogs watch intently over the chained men.

One may think that this imaginary scene is...