Culver City slave case
As an almost resident of Culver City, I tend to associate it more with movie theaters and restaurants, rather than, well, slavery. But, as I continue to learn, there's nothing that's too strange or too twisted for the Greater Los Angeles area.
A former Hollywood studio attorney and his wife are expected to be sentenced today for forcing their Filipina housemaid to work as a virtual slave in their Culver City condominium.
James Jackson, 54, who was the vice president of legal affairs at Sony Pictures at the time the crimes occurred, pleaded guilty last August to a single count of alien harboring. His wife, Elizabeth, 55, pleaded guilty on the same day to a charge of forced labor.
James Jackson acknowledged harboring their housemaid, former schoolteacher Nena Ruiz, in his home even though he knew her work visa had expired.
The couple is scheduled to be sentenced this morning by U.S. District Judge Dale Fischer at U.S. District Court in downtown Los Angeles.
The Jacksons forced Ruiz to work 18-hour days for several months from 2001 to 2002.
And, the horrible nature of the crime aside, what makes this so interesting? Because of Mr. Jackson's day job. The dude's an attorney and vice president of legal affairs for Sony and it doesn't occur to him that it might be a bad idea to keep a maid as a slave? My, my, my, what are they teaching in law school these days?
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