United States v. Bradley
United States Court of Appeals for the First Circuit
390 F.3d 145 (2004)
- Written by Emily Laird, JD
Facts
Timothy Bradley and Kathleen Mary O’Dell (defendants) traveled to Jamaica to find Jamaican men to work for their tree-removal company. Bradley and O’Dell flew the men to the United States (plaintiff), paid the men less than promised, provided accommodations inferior to those promised, and made the men work off the rent and airline tickets. Bradley and O’Dell regularly verbally assaulted, threatened, and intimidated the men. Sometimes Bradley and O’Dell physically assaulted the men. Bradley and O’Dell tracked and monitored the men’s movements. A federal district court jury found Bradley and O’Dell guilty of violating 18 U.S.C. § 1589, the Trafficking Victims Protection Act (TVPA). Bradley and O’Dell appealed their convictions to the United States Court of Appeals for the First Circuit, arguing that the district court’s jury instruction was erroneous because it defined the term serious harm under the TVPA too broadly and applied a subjective test of whether the men’s work constituted forced labor. Bradley and O’Dell also argued that they did not force the men’s labor, because the men were paid over minimum wage and the men were not physically restrained.
Rule of Law
Issue
Holding and Reasoning (Boudin, C.J.)
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