Pierce v. United States

As to Counts 8 and 9, charging peonage as to Rose Fisher and her sister, Pollie Melton, the evidence sufficiently establishes a condition of peonage, that is a contract between the defendant and the two girls there concerned, inmates of the Reidsville Prison, to work out the fine the defendant had paid for them. I, therefore, concur in the affirmance of the judgment as to these counts.

As to the other counts, there is neither claim nor proof that the women named in it had entered into a contract with Pierce obligating them to work for him until they worked out the claimed debt. Absent such an…