Yes, United States stopped using penal labor at twentieth (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Penal_labour#United_States). Soviet Union at fifties.
I think 30 years lag is not soo bad considering level of social-economic development of USSR and USA.
I think 30 years lag is not soo bad considering level of social-economic development of USSR and USA.
It might not be "punative" penal labor, which takes it out of the category of "forced labor." But US prisoners do labor in private prisons for private companies, with the sole remuneration of reducing time from their sentences.