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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
speak, and it confused them.”

Learn more about legislators mentioned in this story.

Lori Wilson

Democrat, State Assembly, District 11 (Suisun City)

Just like Nunez, Brown also said he’s eager to see the revised proposal
move forward to overcome the obstacles that arose in 2024, including the well-funded crime measure Prop. 36 that overshadowed the anti-slavery
proposal.

“We didn’t have the finances nor the celebrity power to raise a lot of awareness,” he said. “I also feel like there was a silent strong
opposition because Prop. 36 and Prop. 6 kind of got conflated. There was
so much big money from Home Depot, Walmart, Target, the whole Republican
Party, the correctional officers’ union… Everybody supported Prop. 36.”

Looking ahead, Wilson says she’s optimistic that California’s political environment will be more favorable in two years.

“In 2026, we’re on the gubernatorial election — so it is very California focused.” she said. “It’s not nationally focused but very focused on what
is best for California. So at the same time we’re talking about ‘What is
best in California leadership?’ Well, what is best for it in policies and
our constitution? Do we wanna be anti-racism, anti-slavery?”


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