XPost: alt.society.liberalism, ca.politics, talk.politics.guns   
   XPost: sac.politics, alt.fan.rush-limbaugh   
   From: democrat-insurrection@mail.house.gov   
      
   https://calmatters.org/justice/2025/02/anti-slavery-amendment-2/   
      
   California’s Legislative Black Caucus and the Reparations Task Force   
   continue their fight to scrape away at the last vestiges of legalized   
   slavery remaining within the state constitution.   
      
   Assemblymember Lori Wilson, a Democrat from Suisun City, this month   
   introduced a new constitutional amendment aimed at abolishing the everyday   
   de facto slavery practices that persist inside California prisons.   
      
   Last November, a similar attempt — Proposition 6, failed at the ballot box   
   despite not having any formal opposition. With 47% of California voters in   
   favor of removing language from the state constitution that allows prison   
   administrators to force incarcerated individuals to work under threat of   
   disciplinary consequences, Wilson and a league of co-authors and sponsors   
   hope to get the revised version back in front of voters in 2026.   
      
   “We’re doing this again and going back because we felt like it was a moral   
   obligation and a righteous thing to do,” said Wilson.   
      
   The text of the new amendment would focus more narrowly on the word   
   “slavery,” avoiding references to “discipline” against prisoners and to   
   “involuntary servitude.” Backers of the amendment believe that language   
   left many potential Prop. 6 supporters confused.   
      
   California declared itself a free state in 1850, yet slave owners from   
   other states could bring their slaves with them without much consequence —   
   particularly for use in labor endeavors like mining during the gold rush   
   era. When the 13th Amendment abolished slavery but allowed the exception   
   as punishment for convicted crimes, California followed suit and   
   immediately started using prisons like Folsom and San Quentin to exploit   
   mostly Black prisoners for contracted labor and capital gain.   
      
   The California Reparations Task Force and Legislative Black Caucus have   
   been trying to repeal the constitutional language that allows forced   
   prison labor for much of this decade. U.S. Rep. Sydney Kamlager-Dove, at   
   the time a state assemblymember, put forward a proposal in 2021 but it   
   fell short of getting on the ballot because of concerns that it would   
   compel state prisons to pay minimum wage to working prisoners.   
      
   Wilson returned in 2023 with the measure that became Prop. 6 and crafted   
   it in a way that lawmakers believed would have allowed voluntary work   
   assignments in prisons and jails for incarcerated people who wanted them.   
      
   But, caught in the 2024 political mix alongside tough-on-crime Proposition   
   36 and the national dynamics of the volatile presidential election, Prop.   
   6 seemed to leave too many Californians confused and apathetic. The ballot   
   summary’s language did not focus on the word slavery; instead it described   
   “involuntary servitude for incarcerated persons.”   
      
   “What we heard from the voters during that time was a lot of   
   misunderstandings around the bill,” explained Wilson. “But when we   
   educated on Prop. 6, they were all behind it. I didn’t talk to any person   
   that wasn’t behind the bill once they knew what the bill did, but that   
   took a lot of time.”   
      
   The new version of Prop. 6, now Assembly Constitutional Amendment 6,   
   simply states: “Slavery in all forms is prohibited.” It will be up to the   
   Attorney General’s Office to write the summary that voters would see if   
   the Legislature places the amendment on the ballot.   
      
   Recently in other states, such as Alabama and Nevada, voters approved   
   amendments to remove the allowance of forced prison labor where the ballot   
   language included the word slavery.   
      
   The new proposal also differs from Prop. 6 in avoiding previous language   
   which stated, “The Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation shall not   
   discipline any incarcerated person for refusing a work assignment.”   
      
   “That was a hangup for a lot of voters who were supportive about the   
   concept, but were concerned about this language that they can’t be   
   disciplined and what does that mean?” said Wilson. “That is a big word to   
   put in a constitution without any definition.”   
      
   Recent attention and appreciation toward incarcerated firefighters who   
   responded to the Palisades fires may ultimately help the anti-slavery   
   proposal gain momentum with voters.   
      
   “Now people understand the role that these incarcerated individuals had in   
   tackling our wildfires,”said Wilson. “We have these people who are on the   
   front line. They have bravery. They’re showing commitment.”   
      
   Advocates and sponsors say they’re excited and ready to begin prepping the   
   voting public for 2026 — and to begin building off the lessons they   
   learned from the failed 2024 campaign.   
      
   “Last time, we waited ‘til this qualified to go to voters before we   
   launched any kind of campaign efforts. We’re not gonna make that mistake   
   again this go-round,” said Esteban Nunez, a head lobbyist and chief   
   strategy consultant for the Anti-Recidivism Coalition.   
      
   Nunez served six years within the California prison system and remembers   
   his own experiences with involuntary servitude. Stuck working a kitchen   
   job, he faced opposition when trying to pursue a college education while   
   incarcerated. And when he asked his correctional supervisor for a bit of   
   time off to communicate with his family during a sister’s health crisis   
   emergency, Nunez found himself threatened with a write-up for failing to   
   report to work.   
      
   Nunez said he looks forward to a grassroots approach with heightened focus   
   on educating constituents in smaller counties across the state. “I think   
   it really comes down to having people within proximity to those areas and   
   having them really do local education with city council members, with   
   board of supervisors, and trying to see if we can get them in support   
   early.”   
      
   Another advocate, Sam Brown of the emotional skills nonprofit 10P Program,   
   served 25 years of an indeterminate life sentence and worked as a health   
   care facilities maintenance technician inside Lancaster prison in 2020. At   
   the very onset of COVID outbreaks, Brown’s supervisors pushed him to clean   
   infected cells without any personal protective equipment or understanding   
   of the disease’s prolific viral spread.   
      
   When he tried to refuse for his own safety, Brown says they threatened to   
   write him up with a rules violation report — documentation that would have   
   directly derailed his hopes to gain parole. He worked against his will   
   rather than suffer the consequences of potentially extending his   
   incarceration for years.   
      
   “Those rules violations reports are the modern day whip,” said Brown. “As   
   of right now, it’s like California elected to keep slavery on the books.   
   Some people did it intentionally. Some people didn’t do it intentionally —   
   because, you know, the law was muddled in obscurity or vagueness, so to   
      
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