Five states to hold midterm referenda to abolish constitutional slavery 'punishment' loopholes: report

20 October 2022

Residents of Alabama, Louisiana, Oregon, Tennessee, and Vermont will vote on referenda in the November midterm elections to remove slavery loopholes from their states' constitutions, the Associated Press reported on Thursday.

AP noted that "nearly 20 states have constitutions that include language permitting slavery and involuntary servitude as criminal punishments. In 2018, Colorado was the first to remove the language from its founding frameworks by ballot measure, followed by Nebraska and Utah two years later."

The outlet explained that "the effort is part of a national push to amend the 13th Amendment to the United States Constitution that banned enslavement or involuntary servitude except as a form of criminal punishment. That exception has long permitted the exploitation of labor by convicted felons."

Prisoners are frequently forced into performing labor for little to no money and can face severe consequences if they refuse to cooperate.

Nonetheless, each state has its own objectives, although there is some overlap between them. Per AP:

Alabama is asking voters to delete all racist language from its constitution and to remove and replace a section on convict labor that’s similar to what Tennessee has had in its constitution.

Vermont often boasts of being the first state in the nation to ban slavery in 1777, but its constitution still allows involuntary servitude in a handful of circumstances. Its proposed change would replace the current exception clause with language saying 'slavery and involuntary servitude are forever prohibited in this State.'

Oregon’s proposed change repeals its exception clause while adding language allowing a court or probation or parole agency to order alternatives to incarceration as part of sentencing.

Louisiana is the only state so far to have its proposed amendment draw organized opposition, over concerns that the replacement language may make matters worse. Even one of its original sponsors has second thoughts — Democratic Representative Edmond Jordan told The Times-Picayune/The New Orleans Advocate last week that he’s urging voters to reject it.

AP pointed out that Louisiana's constitution currently states that “slavery and involuntary servitude are prohibited, except in the latter case as punishment for a crime.” The proposed changes would read: “Slavery and involuntary servitude are prohibited, (but this) does not apply to the otherwise lawful administration of criminal justice.”

But its proponents argue that Jordan's perspective is part of a push to maintain the status quo.

Max Parthas, state operations director for the Abolish Slavery National Network, told AP that "if this doesn’t pass, it will be used as a weapon against us." He also stressed that "we’ve never seen a single day in the United States where slavery was not legal" and that "we want to see what that looks like and I think that’s worth it.”

Section I of the 13th Amendment decrees that "neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, except as a punishment for crime whereof the party shall have been duly convicted, shall exist within the United States, or any place subject to their jurisdiction."

That wording has long been a source of anger among civil rights activists and supporters of criminal justice reform. In 2020, Democrats in the House and Senate introduced a joint resolution called the "Abolition Amendment" aimed at eliminating the "punishment" clause.

Senator Jeff Merkley (D-Oregon), who co-sponsored the Senate version of the proposal along with Senator Bernie Sanders (I-Vermont), said in a statement at the time that "as we take on the long and difficult challenge of rooting out systemic racism in our nation, ending the slavery loophole in the 13th Amendment is [a] critical step in that challenge." He added that "slavery is our nation's original sin and this loophole has been exploited for far too long to criminalize Black and Brown Americans."

Leading the House coalition, then-Representative Lacy Clay (D-Missouri) said that Congress needs to "finish the job that President [Abraham] Lincoln started" and that "no American should ever be subject to involuntary servitude, even if they are incarcerated."

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