It is commonly believed that slavery ceased to be an issue directly concerning the United States with the passage of the Thirteenth Amendment in 1865. However, the reality is that slavery is still a real, timely issue for U.S. courts and citizens due to its facilitation by U.S. corporations and their business activities abroad. This Article traces the history of corporate liability for human enslavement from its pre‐ World‐War‐II‐roots, through the prosecution of companies that exploited war prisoners and concentration camp inmates for profit in Nazi Germany, to today’s application in industries such as chocolate‐making.
The Author argues that in spite of certain roadblocks established by the U.S. Supreme Court for victims seeking redress, modern‐day corporate human rights violations—such as large U.S. candy‐makers’ use of cocoa supplied by child slaves on African farms—should be allowed to be prosecuted in U.S. courts. Further, the Author argues that corporate human rights violations should be confronted with the same level of moral conviction and zeal exhibited following the egregious crimes of World War II. In addition, this Article analyzes limited signs of hope for today’s victims of slavery, including civil litigation strategies being employed by human rights lawyers representing former slaves, and modest legal reforms that have been enacted and proposed to address the use of slave labor in corporate supply chains.