Voters in a growing number of states have approved ballot initiatives banning slavery or involuntary servitude as a form of criminal punishment, opening new legal ground as part of a larger push to crack down on a prison labor system that pays inmates less than $1 per hour or nothing at all.
During the November midterms, voters in Alabama, Oregon, Tennessee, and Vermont agreed to amend their state constitutions to outlaw the practices. The four states join Colorado, Nebraska, and Utah, which previously approved similar ballot initiatives to abolish slavery and involuntary servitude.
A similar measure failed in Louisiana after supporters later concluded that its ambiguous language wouldn’t actually prohibit involuntary servitude in the state’s prison system.
But while advocates see the measures’ passage as a significant step toward increasing public awareness of prison working conditions, their immediate legal impact is far from earth-shattering.
Prisoners—who perform a variety of jobs such as cooking, cleaning, and building furniture—will have to invoke the new amendments in lawsuits challenging the constitutionality of prison labor practices, a process that will take time.
“Nothing is going to change overnight,” said Bianca Tylek, executive director of prison reform advocacy group Worth Rises.
Mandatory work requirements are common at prisons...
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