In California and Nevada, so-called slavery “loopholes” are on this year’s ballot.
Much like the 13th Amendment in the U.S. Constitution, many states across the country have an exception for slavery or involuntary servitude, allowing it as punishment for a crime written into state law.
This allows state jails and prisons nationwide to employ incarcerated people by force to earn pennies per hour — for manufacturing jobs, firefighting, maintenance work, and more, according to the ACLU.
In California, incarcerated people in the state can be forced to work by cooking, cleaning, or doing other tasks needed to run the facilities, according to a voter information guide prepared by state Attorney General Rob Bonta. Many of these workers are paid less than $1 per hour or may earn time credits in order to reduce the amount of time they serve, the guide states.
People who refuse to work or do other activities may face consequences, including having certain privileges or basics taken away.
A county worker loads mail-in ballots into a scanner that records the votes at a tabulating area at the Clark County Election Department, Oct. 29, 2020, in Las Vegas.
John Locher/AP
Prop 6, if passed, would amend the California Constitution to remove the provision that allows involuntary servitude in jails and prisons as a punishment for crime.
Prop 6 would ban the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation from punishing incarcerated people for refusing to work and would continue to allow them to accept work assignments in exchange for sentence reduction credits.
The Legislative Analyst’s Office states that the fiscal effects of Proposition 6 on state and local criminal justice costs are “uncertain” because it depends on how local and state facilities respond to any new restrictions.
“If people in prison and jail no longer face consequences for refusing to work, prisons and/or jails might have to find other ways to encourage working,” according to the Legislative Analyst’s Office. “If this is done by increasing pay, costs would increase. If this is done by giving more time credits instead, costs would decrease because people would serve less time.”
In Nevada, Question 4 on the voter ballot will also ask residents whether or not to remove language that authorizes “the use of slavery and involuntary servitude as a criminal punishment from the Nevada Constitution.”
People drop off their ballots at the Los Angeles County Registrar on October 28, 2024, in Norwalk, California.
Frederic J. Brown/AFP via Getty Images
In total, at least seven states have removed the “slavery loopholes” from their constitutions.
In 2022, Vermont and Tennessee voters approved the change to their constitutional language, while Alabama voters approved the removal of several Jim Crow-era sections of their constitution, including one that allowed for slavery as criminal punishment, one that barred interracial marriage and one that separated schools for white and Black students.
The Oregon ballot measure proposed removing such language from the state constitution, as well as adding language that authorizes an Oregon court, or a probation or parole agency, to order alternatives to incarceration for a convicted individual as part of their sentencing.
Utah, Colorado and Nebraska had previously removed the language.
The 2022 effort to remove slavery from the constitution in Louisiana failed to pass, which some local legislators said may have been due to confusion over the ballot language. Other states, including New York, are considering making the adjustment.
Source: abc news
