If voted into law, Proposition 6 would abolish forced labor as a criminal punishment in the state’s prisons
  • Badabinski@kbin.earth
    11·
    2 months ago

    The article mentions Utah as a state where the slavery exception was removed from the constitution. This is true, but we’ve fucked it up in typical Utah fashion. The state constitution now reads as:

    Article I, Section 21. [Slavery and involuntary servitude forbidden – Limitation.] (1) Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude shall exist within this State. (2) Subsection (1) does not apply to the otherwise lawful administration of the criminal justice system.

    If there’s a condition on whether slavery is acceptable, then it’s not “abolished.” God, our legislature is such an embarrassing clown car…

    EDIT: I did some more research on this because it was bugging me. I looked at the language of the 2020 amendment, an independent analysis of the amendment text, and arguments made in favor of the amendment. Based on that, I believe that the exception is trying to ensure that we can still put people in jail, not that we’re allowed to use them as slave labor when they’re in jail. I think it’s also supposed to make it possible for people in jail to participate in work programs if they want.

    With that being said, I think it’s a fucking sloppy piece of work. The text as written would be easily “misinterpreted” by someone who stands to make a financial gain from slave labor. I don’t know who authored this amendment, but I feel that they did a bad job.

  • LibertyLizard@slrpnk.net
    2·
    2 months ago

    Not sure if this will be a good year for this topic but I hope so. Seems like there might be a sort of “law and order” sentiment among the voters this year. I’m a little worried about it, honestly.