California voters to consider ending involuntary prison work
Neither the U.S. nor the California Constitution completely prohibits involuntary servitude, broadly defined as forced work under threat of punishment. The 13th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, ratified in 1865 following the Civil War, prohibits slavery, as well as involuntary servitude “except as a punishment for a crime whereof the party shall have been duly convicted.” Since 1849, Article I of the California Constitution similarly has prohibited slavery, allowing involuntary servitude only to punish crime.
In November, California voters will consider Proposition 6, which would amend the California Constitution to prohibit involuntary servitude, with no exception to punish crime. If approved by a majority of voters, the amendment will strip the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation of its current authority to “discipline any incarcerated person for refusing a work assignment.” Nothing in the amendment would prohibit CDCR from “awarding credits to an incarcerated person who voluntarily accepts a work assignment.
Click here to read the full article written by SCMV Shareholder Dan Eaton and published in The San Diego Union-Tribune.