Peonage Cases

Citations

• 123 F. 671
• 1903 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 245

Syllabus

<p>L Peonage—Construction op Statute Prohibiting—Offenses.</p> <p>Under Rev. St. § 5526 [U. S. Comp. St. 1901, p. 3715], which makes it an offense to hold, arrest, or return, or to cause or aid in the arrest or return of, any person “to a condition of peonage,” it is immaterial to such offense whether or not the condition of peonage exists by virtue of a local law or custom creating a system of peonage, or whether it exists in violation, or without the sanction, of law.</p> <p>2. Penal Statutes—Rules op Construction—Penalty against Invasion on Personal Rights.</p> <p>Statutes imposing penalties for the invasion of the rights of the citizen in order to protect him in his liberty and happiness are not subjects of disfavor in the law, and are not construed with the same strictness or on the same footing as those which regulate or restrain the exercise-of a natural right or forbid the doing of things not intrinsically wrong.</p> <p>3. Peonage—What Constitutes “Condition op Peonage.”</p> <p>The “condition of peonage,” to hold or return a person to which is made a criminal offense by Rev. St. § 5526 [U. S. Comp. St. 1901, p. 3715], is a, condition of enforced servitude by which the servitor is restrained of his liberty and compelled to labor in liquidation of some debt or obligation, either real or pretended, against his will; and any agreement giving another the right to exact such servitude is invalid under the law, and treated as though made involuntarily, and affords the creditor or master no protection.</p> <p>L Same.</p> <p>What influence, force, or threats to compel a person to render service to another in liquidation of an obligation amounts to coercion, such as, if effective, will render the service involuntary and create a condition of peonage, must be determined by taking into consideration in each case the relative inferiority of the person contracting to perform the-service to the person exercising the force or influence to compel its performance.</p> <p>5. S