Vote Yes on Proposition 6 to End Forced Labor in California's Prisons
Involuntary servitude in our prisons is a vestige of slavery in this country. It is one of several ways the State of California exploits incarcerated people as sources of cheap labor.
Due to a provision in our state constitution, prisons have long enforced low-paid labor on people in the criminal legal system. And because that system has targeted residents of color and those who are impoverished, the practice has affected these communities most. Proposition 6 aims to end involuntary servitude in our prisons, doing away once and for all with a practice that stains our history.
When former State Senator Sydney Kamlager introduced ACA 3 in 2022, she sought to remove this language in the California Constitution that allows involuntary servitude as punishment for a crime. The bill did not progress, but Assemblymember Lori Wilson continued Kamlager's effort this year with ACA 8. That measure, which Catalyst California supported, is now on the ballot for the 2024 General Election as Proposition 6.
Catalyst California is a member of the Alliance for Reparations, Reconciliation and Truth (ARRT), a multi-racial, multi-sector alliance dedicated to promoting and enacting the more than 100 recommendations of the California Reparations Report, released last year by the Task Force to Study and Develop Reparation Proposals for African Americans. The task force report details how California helped maintain and enforce slavery and its legacy of anti-Black racism, causing profound harm to Black communities that continues to this day.
One of those recommendations is that the Legislature amend the state constitution to prohibit involuntary servitude in the prison system. The Legislature did its part to get the measure on the ballot to voters. Now, we must do our part and vote yes on Prop 6 to completely and permanently abolish slavery in the Golden State.