Oregon Attorney General Ellen Rosenblum has launched a new task force intended to address the overlooked issue of forced labor.
In 2007, lawmakers passed a bill creating the crime of involuntary servitude, where a person forces, threatens or coerces another person into performing labor or services for little or no pay. The law also made it illegal to traffic people with the aim of forcing them into labor.
But despite the bill's passage, there have been no prosecutions of labor trafficking anywhere in the state, according to the Oregon Criminal Justice Commission. ...
