In a setback for California history reparationsvoters rejected a ballot measure that would have ended forced labor in jails and prisons. Proposition 6 received support from Democratic party leaders, labor unions and dozens of advocacy groups who saw their efforts as part of a national movement to end a racist legacy and abolish slavery.
The measure would have amended the state constitution to repeal that language makes involuntary servitude possible as a form of criminal punishment, making work assignments voluntary and allowing inmates to prioritize their rehabilitation.
“While it is disappointing that our measure to remove slavery from the California Constitution was not approved by voters, this setback does not end the fight,” Democratic Assemblymember Lori Wilson of Suisun City wrote Friday morning a statement. “Together, we will continue to ensure that our state Constitution reflects the values of equality and freedom that all Californians deserve.”
California mandates tens of thousands people locked up to work — many of which they don’t choose — ranging from packing nuts to washing dishes, to making license plates, disinfectant and furniture for less than 74 cents an hour, according to legal summaries of prison work.
If someone does not complete their work, regardless of illness, injury or death, they will be subject to punishment, such as disciplinary violations, which can lead to the loss of privileges, including visits from relatives. Prop. 6 would have prohibited the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation from disciplining incarcerated people who refuse a work assignment.
California has a history of slavery and racially discriminatory policies, despite entering the union as a free state. detailed by California’s Reparations Task Force. The measure was sponsored by Wilson and recommended by the Reparations Task Force as a step toward upholding human rights and addressing systemic injustices that have harmed Black Californians.
“At what point, California, will you see us?” said dr. Cheryl Grills, professor of psychology at Loyola Marymount University and member of the Reparations Task Force. “To what extent did voters understand the context of more than 200 years of forced labor for black people? And where is the humanity and compassion for the pain and suffering of the people whose ancestors endured it, and whose current generations live with its legacy?”
Has the voice language prop. 6 endangered?
A similar attempt at ban on forced prison labor failed in 2022. At the time, the California Department of Treasury opposed the proposal, noting that it had the potential to increase prison spending by $1.5 billion annually to provide a minimum wage for incarcerated workers. This time, lawmakers passed some Prop. 6 was added to clarify that the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation would have set wages for volunteer assignments in state prisons.
Lawmakers and advocates sought a constitutional amendment as a way to “ensure that (California) does not repeat slavery, but simply wraps it up in a different package,” Grills said.
There was no funded opposition, and because election results showed the measure still hasn’t gotten off the ground, Prop supporters said. 6 and independent political experts that the language might have confused voters.
The California Attorney General’s office writes the language and summaries of the ballots, and the word “slavery” did not appear on the ballot in California. Instead, the language read: “Eliminates the constitutional provision authorizing involuntary servitude for incarcerated persons. Legislative constitutional amendment.”
“When I saw the words ‘involuntary servitude,’ I thought, ‘This might take some explaining to voters,’” said Mark Baldassare, survey director at the Public Policy Institute of California. “We know that when people are uncertain or insecure, the default is to vote ‘no’.”
In Nevada this electiona measure similar to Prop. 6 passed with voter approval of 60 percent. Voters there saw voting language that referred to slavery.
The Nevada measure read: “Shall the Ordinance of the Nevada Constitution and the Nevada Constitution be amended to remove language authorizing the use of slavery and involuntary servitude as criminal punishment?”
“As in Prop. 6 slavery was in the summary of the voting titles, it would be over – just like in Nevada,” said J Vasquez, a former inmate organizer with the advocacy group Communities United for Restorative Youth. “People couldn’t make the connection between current prison conditions and slavery.”
Assemblymember Wilson also pointed to Prop.’s ballot language. 6 in its statement on the failure of the measure.
“The Prop. 6 campaign believes that using clearer language, as other states have done, could have provided voters with the historical context and moral imperative behind Proposition 6. This experience has underscored the importance of framing and education, and we are taking these insights into account as we plan the path forward,” she wrote in her statement.
A Prop victory. 6 would have put California behind a growing number of states lately, including Oregon, Utah and AlabamaRemoved language sanctioning involuntary servitude from their constitutions. Now, involuntary servitude remains enshrined in fifteen state constitutions.
“California got it wrong,” Vasquez said. “And now we’re going to continue to see the same old revolving door where people get out and go straight back in. We should be ashamed that we didn’t do what we could to build safer communities.”
‘A highway for exploitation’
Supporters of Prop. 6 say California’s constitutional provision has created “a highway of exploitation” that hinders inmates’ ability to participate in rehabilitation.
“Many of the programs vital to rehabilitation are being implemented concurrently with the majority of forced labor orders,” said Lawrence Cox, regional advocacy and organizing officer at Legal Services for Prisoners with Children.
That tension effectively makes rehabilitation a secondary priority and hinders an inmate’s ability to prepare for release, the measure’s proponents say.
About 40 percent of people released from state prisons were convicted of new crimes within three years, the state report said. most recent report on recidivism.
“Accountability doesn’t mean pushing a broom all day,” Vasquez said. “It’s about someone working on themselves, so when they return to the community, we all benefit.”
Findings from a report earlier this year by the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation “point to lower recidivism rates for those who have earned college credits through participation in and completion of rehabilitation programs.”
“Nothing about prison slavery is good for rehabilitation, and rehabilitation is what is good for public safety,” said Carmen Cox, director of government affairs at ACLU California Action. “I honestly believe that Californians do not want to fund slavery. We will immediately start the information campaign. People don’t understand what it looks like to be an incarcerated worker and how that affects people out there.”
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