Editing Involuntary servitude (section)

===United States===
{{commons|File:Circular No. 3591.pdf|U.S. Department of Justice Circular No. 3591 Re: Involuntary Servitude, Slavery, and Peonage}}
The [[Thirteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution]] makes involuntary servitude illegal under any U.S. jurisdiction whether at the hands of the government or in the private sphere, except [[Penal labor in the United States|as punishment for a crime]]: <blockquote>Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, except as a punishment for crime whereof the party shall have been duly convicted, shall exist within the United States, or any place subject to their jurisdiction.</blockquote>

The Supreme Court has held, in ''Butler v. Perry'' (1916), that the Thirteenth Amendment does not prohibit "enforcement of those duties which individuals owe to the state, such as services in the army, militia, on the jury, etc."<ref>{{ussc|name=Butler v. Perry|volume=240|page=328|pin=|year=1916}}</ref>  Onerous long term alimony and spousal support orders, premised on a proprietary interest retained by former marital partners in one another's persons, have also been allowed in many states, though they may in practice embody features of involuntary servitude.<ref>{{Citation
 |last        = Sciarrino
 |first       = Alfred J.
 |title       = Alimony: Peonage or Involuntary Servitude
 |publisher   = American Journal of Trial Advocates 67
 |year        = 2003
 |url         = http://www.massalimonyreform.org/PDFs/alimony-servitude-peonage.pdf
 |url-status  = dead
 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20100107054234/http://www.massalimonyreform.org/PDFs/alimony-servitude-peonage.pdf
 |archive-date = 2010-01-07
}}</ref>