Americans in five states will have the opportunity to vote on slavery initiatives this November. It comes in the form of raising the question of whether it is legal to force convicts to work while incarcerated.
The effort is part of a national push to amend the 13th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution that abolished slavery and involuntary servitude except as a form of criminal punishment.
“The idea that you could ever finish the sentence ‘slavery’s okay when … ’ has to rip out your soul, and I think it’s what makes this a fight that ignores political lines and brings us together because it feels so clear,” said Bianca Tylek, executive director of Worth Rises, a criminal justice advocacy group.
According to Worth Rise’s website, “Incarcerated people who refuse to work are often beaten, denied visits and calls, put in solitary confinement, and even denied parole.”
Nearly 20 states have constitutions that include language permitting involuntary servitude as criminal punishment.
In 2018, Colorado was the first to remove the language by a ballot measure, followed by Nebraska and Utah in 2020.
In November, the issue will be on the ballot in Alabama, Louisiana, Oregon, Tennessee, and Vermont.
Vermont was the first state to abolish slavery in 1777, but its state constitution still allows involuntary servitude in a handful of circumstances. Its proposed change would replace the current exception clause with language saying, ”slavery and indentured servitude in any form are prohibited.”
Oregon’s proposed change would repeal its exception clause and add language that allows a court, probation official, or parole agency to order alternatives to incarceration as part of sentencing.
Louisiana’s Constitution currently states that “Slavery and involuntary servitude are prohibited, except in the latter case as punishment for a crime.”
The amendment on the ballot would change that clause to read, “Slavery and involuntary servitude are prohibited, (but this) does not apply to the otherwise lawful administration of criminal justice.”
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