Endorsement: Yes on Proposition 6. Forced labor undermines prisoner rehabilitation
For more than a century and a half, California has outlawed forced labor. But there has always been an exception for one group — people in prison. The state Constitution specifically prohibits slavery and involuntary servitude except “to punish crime.” It’s time to strike those words from the Constitution by voting “yes” on Proposition 6 on Nov. 5. No one, including state prisoners serving time for serious crimes, should be forced to work against their will. Involuntary servitude is a remnant of a post-slavery practice that is repugnant and has no place in the state, even in its prisons. Proposition 6 will remove the language that allows prisons and jails to force incarcerated people to work and punish them when they refuse. We wholeheartedly endorse it. This is not about coddling prisoners. Their punishment for committing serious crimes is being confined for years and sometimes decades. All this measure does is allow prisoners some agency over how they will spend that time to take advantage of resources such as drug treatment and vocational education that might change their lives once they are out — and