In a vote from Sacramento, Californians declined to rewrite their state constitution so that forced labor would be banned in every form, leaving intact the long-standing allowance for compelled work as punishment for crime. The question sits at the edge of an old and unresolved human inheritance: the difference between a sentence and servitude, and who bears the cost of that line. Advocates who pressed the measure say the people doing that work, often paid less than a dollar an hour, have been asking for the constitution to speak more plainly, and for now the answer from the ballot box is that
California Voters Reject Ban on Forced Prison Labor in Constitutional Amendment
Incarcerated people are often paid less than $1 an hour for work such as firefighting, cell cleaning, and cemetery landscaping, according to criminal justice advocates.
The exception allowing forced labor as punishment for crime remains.
Mark
So what actually happened here?
Mimi
Californians voted down an amendment that would have banned forced labor in all forms. The constitution still allows it as punishment for a crime.
Mark
Why was that exception such a flashpoint?
Mimi
Advocates say it permits very low pay. They say incarcerated people often earn under $1 an hour fighting fires, cleaning cells, and landscaping cemeteries.
Luke
Worth noting that the pay figure is the advocates' description. The report doesn't give an official wage number.
Mark
And the reparations connection?
Mimi
The measure was one piece of a package lawmakers introduced to atone for racism and discrimination against Black Californians.
Luke
Do we know why voters rejected it?
Mimi
Not from this report. It gives no margin and no explanations.
Luke
Right, so any claim about voter motives would be guesswork. What's confirmed is the result and the unchanged text.
Mark
Are other states going a different direction?
Mimi
Alabama, Oregon, Tennessee and Vermont have approved amendments removing slavery and involuntary servitude exceptions in recent years.
Der Puls
- California voters rejected a ballot measure that would have stripped the constitution's exception for forced labor as punishment for crime.
- Advocates say incarcerated people often earn under $1 an hour fighting fires, cleaning cells and landscaping cemeteries.
- The amendment was folded into a broader reparations package, drawing its urgency from a history of racism against Black Californians.
- While Alabama, Oregon, Tennessee and Vermont have recently removed similar exceptions, California's prison labor rules now remain exactly as they were.
In a vote from Sacramento, Californians declined to rewrite their state constitution so that forced labor would be banned in every form, leaving intact the long-standing allowance for compelled work as punishment for crime. The question sits at the edge of an old and unresolved human inheritance: the difference between a sentence and servitude, and who bears the cost of that line. Advocates who pressed the measure say the people doing that work, often paid less than a dollar an hour, have been asking for the constitution to speak more plainly, and for now the answer from the ballot box is that the words stay as they were.
California voters have turned down a ballot measure that would have rewritten the state constitution to prohibit forced labor in every form. The state's existing language stays in place, barring forced labor except when it is imposed as punishment for a crime. That exception was the measure's target.
Criminal justice advocates have pointed to the work incarcerated Californians are expected to perform and the pay they receive, often less than $1 an hour, for jobs such as fighting fires, cleaning cells and landscaping cemeteries. The amendment was part of a package of reparations proposals meant to address historical racism and discrimination against Black Californians, linking the prison labor question to a larger argument about past harm.
The vote ends that effort, for now, at the ballot box. The constitutional text is unchanged, and the punishment exception remains. The result also runs against a trend in several other states, including Alabama, Oregon, Tennessee and Vermont, which have recently approved amendments removing similar exceptions.
The AP report does not say by what margin the measure failed or why voters rejected it, and it includes no responses from lawmakers, advocates or corrections officials. What is clear is that California's prison labor rules are unchanged, and whether supporters return to voters or pursue the question through the legislature remains to be seen.
California voters have turned down a ballot measure that would have rewritten the state Constitution to prohibit forced labor in every form. The result, reported from Sacramento by the Associated Press, leaves the existing language in place: the constitution bars forced labor, except when it is imposed as punishment for a crime.
That exception is what the measure was aimed at. Criminal justice advocates have made it a focus of their concern about conditions for people in prison, pointing to the work incarcerated Californians are expected to do and the pay they receive for it. According to those advocates, incarcerated people are often paid less than $1 an hour. The jobs they describe include fighting fires, cleaning cells and doing landscaping work at cemeteries.
The amendment did not arrive on its own. It was part of a package of reparations proposals introduced by California lawmakers, an effort to atone for and offer redress for a history of racism and discrimination against Black Californians. Placing the prison labor question inside that package tied the language of the state constitution to a larger argument about historical harm.
With the vote, that argument ends, for now, in defeat at the ballot box. The constitutional text stays as it was, and the exception allowing forced labor as punishment for crime remains.
California's result stands against a trend elsewhere. In recent years several other states, including Alabama, Oregon, Tennessee and Vermont, have approved constitutional amendments that remove exceptions for slavery and involuntary servitude. California voters, given the same kind of choice, went the other way.
The AP report is brief, and it does not say by what margin the measure failed or what drove voters to reject it. It also offers no response from lawmakers, advocates or corrections officials. What it does establish is the outcome: prison labor rules in California are unchanged. Whether supporters bring the question back to voters, or pursue it through the legislature, is something to watch.
Bemerkenswerte Zitate
Incarcerated people are often paid less than $1 an hour to fight fires, clean cells and do landscaping work at cemeteries.— Criminal justice advocates, as reported by the Associated Press
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Politics & Governance