California and Nevada may ban slavery, forced prison labor

Lawmakers in Neva and California are vancing legislation to remove involuntary servitude from ir state constitutions, a move that follows four states bans on forced labor in ballot measures that passed last fall.

goal of se proposals is to remove exceptions from state constitutions that allow forced labor as criminal punishment. efforts come amid a growing push among some states to scrub outdated, century-old language from ir state constitutions. Last fall, voters approved similar ballot measures in Alabama, Oregon, Tennessee and Vermont.

About a dozen states are pushing this year to get rid of involuntary servitude exceptions, according to Abolish Slavery National Network. Some vocates said this has major legal implications today, particularly in litigation related to prison labor pay and conditions.

It’s not uncommon for prisoners in California, Neva and or states to be paid less than $1 an hour to fight fires, clean prison cells, make license plates or do yardwork at cemeteries.

Samuel Brown, who was formerly incarcerated with a life sentence, helped author an anti-involuntary servitude amendment in California last year. He said incarcerated people can be forced to do work that is unsafe and puts ir health at risk. Even more, he described how terrified he was when he h to disinfect jail cells after someone tested positive for COVID-19.

Brown said amendment that is being reintroduced this year is long overdue.

“We have an opportunity to stamp it out once and for all. We’re not going to stop until we get it done," he said.

language allowing involuntary servitude that still exists in more than a dozen state constitutions is one of lasting legacies of chattel slavery in United States. Coloro became first state in recent years to revise its constitution in 2018 to ban slavery and involuntary servitude, followed by Utah and Nebraska in 2020.

Democrats in Congress have yet to pass federal legislation changing 13th Amendment of U.S. Constitution, which states: “Neir slavery nor involuntary servitude, except as a punishment for crime whereof party shall have been duly convicted, shall exist within United States, or any place subject to ir jurisdiction.” If latest attempt wins approval in Congress, constitutional amendment must be ratified by three-fourths of U.S. states.

In California, more than 40 supporters of measure gared Wednesday outside state Capitol, where lawmakers and formerly incarcerated people talked about impacts of forced labor.

Assemblywoman Lori D. Wilson, a Democrat representing part of Solano County, is introducing this year's proposed amendment, hoping to have a different outcome than a failed attempt last year to pass similar legislation in state. Senate rejected it after Gov. Gavin Newsom’s ministration warned that if inmates were paid $15-per-hour minimum wage, it could cost taxpayers $1.5 billion a year.

“Slavery is wrong in all its forms, and California, of all states, should be clear in denouncing that in its constitution,” said Wilson, who chairs California Legislative Black Caucus.

If proposed amendment passes in California Legislature this year by a two-thirds vote, voters would decide in November 2024 wher to opt it. Wilson said she hopes conversations she has h with lawmakers about economic impact of this amendment will help it get passed this year in Legislature.

Meanwhile in Neva, lawmakers voted unanimously Tuesday to move a similar measure out of a committee and to state Assembly floor, after more than a dozen people testified in favor of resolution.

That puts measure one step closer to appearing on 2024 ballot in Neva, after it passed unanimously during 2021 Legislature season. Ballot measures that go through legislative process must pass Neva's Legislature twice before going in front of voters. This would need a majority vote in state Senate and Assembly to pass again.

Democratic Assemblyman Howard Watts of Las Vegas, whose great-great-grandfar was born enslaved, is cosponsoring legislation in state.

“I believe that it’s time for us to move forward and make it clear and unequivocal that nobody will ever live through horror of state-sanctioned slavery, or servitude ever again,” Watts said.

ACLU of Neva is currently in litigation related to pay and working conditions of incarcerated women at prison firefighting camps — and measure could protect people from “harmful, dely conditions without being forced to labor for our sake,” said Lilith Baran, group's policy manager.

“This is not just a feel-good bill,” Baran said. “This has actual real implications on people’s lives.”