State Records Document Systematic Whipping in Alabama Convict Camps

Alabama legislative records and subsequent investigative reports document whipping as the standard discipline in convict lease camps. Inspectors record lash counts at different facilities: the Pratt Mines show hundreds of documented whippings per year. Guards carry whips as standard equipment. The practice is defended by lessees as necessary for production quotas. State officials who object are overruled by the financial interests of the lease system.