Black man enslaved by South Carolina restaurant manager is owed $546,000, court rules

[turbinetree]

Source: The Guardian

Bobby Paul Edwards, a white man serving 10 years in prison, must double restitution he pays to ex-employee John Christopher Smith

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A former restaurant manager serving 10 years in prison for effectively enslaving a man, forcing him to work more than 100 hours a week without pay, must double the restitution he pays to his former employee – to more than half a million dollars, a court ruled.

Bobby Paul Edwards, a 56-year-old white man who ran a restaurant in Conway, South Carolina, has now been ordered to pay John Christopher Smith, a Black man with intellectual disabilities, $546,000.

A recent appellate court ruling declared that Smith should receive double the $273,000 he was initially awarded in restitution after being enslaved and physically abused for five years.

Read more: https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2021/may/03/south-carolina-restaurant-manager-black-man-enslaved-double-restitution-court

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[Orrex]

1. I understand the whole "four paragraphs" thing, but...

It seems weird that the quoted article more less exactly repeats the same info four times.

Regardless, the court should double that amount a few more times.

[BobTheSubgenius]

3. They could make it $500,000,000 instead of $500,000.

What are the chances that that slug is ever going to have two nickels to rub together? At best, he'll be in his early 60s when he's released, and unemployable in a normal society. At least he'll have SS they can garnishee.

I couldn't agree more that he SHOULD pay way more, but I don't think it possible. I love seeing awful people like this going to prison, but in this case, I'd forgo a prison sentence to see him chained to a radiator and making chitlins or whatever he makes and giving every single cent he earns to John Smith.

On a very judgmental note, I see he goes by 3 names, which was all but 100% predictable. The surprise is that his middle name isn't Wayne. That one middle name seems to have terrible mojo.

[C Moon]

2. 10 years? Is that all he got? Well, prison will wipe that smirk off his disgusting face, anyway.

[XanaDUer2]

4. To my horror,

I ate at this asshole's place twice while visiting relatives

[Galraedia]

5. Why wasn't he charged with committing a hate crime?

From the article:

Smith was kept from his family, called racial slurs, whipped with belts and kitchen pans, and burned with metal tongues that had been dipped in hot grease during what court documents called a “reign of terror”, the Washington Post reported.

Yet he was only charged with one count of forced labor for coercing Smith to work extensive hours with no pay.

[keithbvadu2]

6. GOP lawmaker urges schools to teach "good" side of slavery

During a local Louisiana House Education Committee hearing, Republican State Rep. Ray Garofalo argued that the state's public schools should teach students about the "good" part of slavery. The statement from Garofalo, which he later said had been a mistake of sorts, comes on the heels of the lawmaker introducing a statewide bill seeking to ban "divisive concepts" when public institutions teach about race.

https://www.democraticunderground.com/100215382732

[Orrex]

8. Slavery was great, if you were a rich white asshole who owned human beings.

[BobTheSubgenius]

7. This story is jaw-dropping.

It's like a movie, or a Stephen King novel. Horrendous.

[SKKY]

9. My heart breaks for John Christopher...

...and I hate saying this, but I wish nothing but the absolute worst for Bobby Paul.

[The Jungle 1]

10. Just remember capitalism is the greatest economic system ever. NOT

It only works with strong government control.