Heart of Dixie · Strange Charges
Twelve Dollars a Month
Bailey v. Alabama (1911)
Charge: Obtaining money by false pretences with intent to defraud - taking a $15 advance on a farm-labour contract and then quittingCourt: Supreme Court of the United States (on review of the Alabama state courts)Docket: Strange Charges
Could Alabama jail a worker for quitting by presuming fraud from his failure to work or repay?
The facts
A farm hand signed a written contract to work for one year for a company at $12 a month and received a $15 advance. He worked through January and a few days into February 1908, then left without repaying the advance. Alabama law made a worker's failure to perform the labour or repay the money prima facie evidence of intent to defraud, and Alabama's evidence rule barred him from testifying about his uncommunicated reasons. The jury was instructed on that presumption, he was convicted, and the Alabama Supreme Court affirmed.
You have the facts the court had. Guilty or not guilty? Call it in the game with your friends, then see what the court actually decided. Wrong call, you drink.
Citation: Bailey v. Alabama, Bailey v. Alabama, 219 U.S. 219 (1911)
Read more at supreme.justia.com. The source reveals the outcome.