On Your November Ballot: Prop 6 Could End “Involuntary Servitude” in California Prisons

Edward Henderson | California Black Media(CBM) – Proposition (Prop) 6 would repeal language in the California Constitution that prohibits “involuntary servitude except to punish crime.”Instead, it will replace it with language that prohibits slavery and involuntary servitude absolutely.The amendment would also prohibit the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation from disciplining any incarcerated person for refusing a work assignment and authorize the department to award time credits to incarcerated persons who voluntarily participate in work assignments.To gain a greater understanding of the proposition and the experience of incarcerated individuals impacted by the current language, California Black Media spoke with Dr. Tanisha Cannon, Managing Director of Legal Services for Prisoners with Children (LSPC).The LSPC organizes communities impacted by the criminal justice system and advocates to release incarcerated people, to restore human and civil rights, and to reunify families and communities. They also build public awareness of structural and systemic racism in policing, the courts, and the prison system, and aim to advance racial and gender justice in their work.“There are really two main messages for this to be a yes vote,” said Cannon. “The way that the Constitution names what’s going on in these prisons is called involuntary servitude. Involuntary servitude...