Opinion ID: 430483
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Thirteenth Amendment Claims

Text: 54 Appellants claim that the appointment system imposes involuntary servitude upon them in violation of the thirteenth amendment. They reason that because the bulk of their practice consists of compensated juvenile appointment cases, they are coerced into accepting the uncompensated neglect appointment cases in contravention of the thirteenth amendment. 55 As the majority correctly concludes, the uncontroverted facts of this case demonstrate that this claim is unmeritorious. First, appellants, by their own admission, are not compelled to place themselves on the list for compensated juvenile cases that subjects them to uncompensated neglect appointments. Involuntary servitude, in contrast, exists only when the individual is unable to avoid continued service. See Flood v. Kuhn, 316 F.Supp. 271, 280-81 (S.D.N.Y.1970), aff'd, 443 F.2d 264, 268 (2d Cir.1971), aff'd on other grounds, 407 U.S. 258, 92 S.Ct. 2099, 32 L.Ed.2d 728 (1972); Wicks v. Southern Pacific Co., 231 F.2d 130, 138 (9th Cir.1956). The attorneys here are free to stop practicing before the Family Division or to continue practicing without taking compensated juvenile cases. See Flood v. Kuhn, 316 F.Supp. at 281. Second, compelling an individual to perform traditional types of public service does not constitute an imposition of involuntary servitude. See Hurtado v. United States, 410 U.S. 578 n. 11, 93 S.Ct. 1157 n. 11, 35 L.Ed.2d 508 (1973) (requirement that prisoners serve as witnesses in trial without compensation constitutes public duty and does not constitute involuntary servitude); cf. Powell v. Alabama, 287 U.S. 45, 73, 53 S.Ct. 55, 65, 77 L.Ed. 158 (1932) (attorneys are officers of the court and are duty bound to accept appointments to represent indigents charged with capital offenses). Thus, even if appellants were compelled to accept appointments, that service would not amount, under settled law, to involuntary servitude. See Williamson v. Vardeman, 674 F.2d 1211, 1214 (8th Cir.1982) (thirteenth amendment has never been applied to various forms of public service and does not apply to uncompensated appointments an attorney may be required to take). To this extent, I fully agree with the majority opinion. As we move, however, from what I deem to be the patently frivolous thirteenth amendment claim to the due process and equal protection contentions, I am constrained to part company with the majority.