Louisiana Voters Reject Ballot Measure To Abolish Slavery, Involuntary Servitude
On Election Day, Louisiana voters chose to keep language in the state constitution that permits slavery and involuntary servitude as punishment for crime, The Associated Press reported.
Unlike Louisiana, voters in Alabama, Oregon, Tennessee and Vermont voted Tuesday (Nov. 8) to adjust the language in their state constitutions that could curtail the use of prison labor, which civil rights advocates say is tantamount to slavery.
The 13th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, ratified by Congress on Dec. 6, 1865, states: “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.”
Similar language in several state constitutions include a loophole that advocates say permits authorities to exploit inmates, typically paying them pennies for their work.
ABC News reported that Louisiana lawmakers may have poorly worded the ballot question and caused confusion.
“I believe Louisiana residents would have abolished slavery had the confusion not existed, in the same way their neighbors in Alabama and Tennessee did, with some clarifications," Bianca Tylek, the executive director of criminal justice advocacy organization Worth Rises, told ABC News.
At the same time, Louisiana State Rep. Edmond Jordan, who sponsored the ballot initially, turned against it after realizing that the measure could inadvertently expand slavery, BBC reported.
In October, Jordan, a Baton Rouge Democrat, urged people to vote against the amendment so lawmakers could rephrase the language next year, KSLA reported.
“The way that the ballot language is stated is confusing. And the way that it was drafted, it could lead to multiple different conclusions or opinions,” he stated.
“Because of the ambiguity of how it was drafted, I’m asking that people vote against it, so that we can go and clean it up with the intent of bringing it back next year and making sure that the language is clear and unambiguous,” Jordan continued.
Historically, the incarceration loophole was used in former Confederate states after the Civil War to provide a source of cheap labor after slavey ended. Black people were targeted for incarceration for minor infractions of the law or on bogus charges to fuel the system.
Civil rights advocates say a similar type of exploitation continues.
About two out of three state and federal prison inmates work jobs, ranging from cooks and janitors to painters and plumbers, and earn an average minimum wage of 52 cents an hour or less, according to an ACLU report titled “Captive Labor: Exploitation of Incarcerated Workers.”
The report noted, “Incarcerated workers produce more than $2 billion a year in goods and commodities and over $9 billion a year in services for the maintenance of the prisons where they are warehoused.”
Under current conditions, inmates who refuse to work could face a range of punishments, from losing phone privileges to solitary confinement. Many who choose to work typically earn pennies on the dollar.
According to the AP, following Election Day, more than a dozen states still have language in their constitutions that allow slavery and involuntary servitude for inmates. In 2018, Colorado voters became the first to approve removal of the slavery loophole.
