Ban slavery in Alabama! Twenty U.S. states’ constitutions, including the Constitution of Alabama, contain the same shortcoming found in the Thirteenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. They permit slavery, or in the case of Louisiana, “involuntary servitude,” as punishment for a crime.

Share this action on Facebook

Share this action on Twitter

Click here to email your governor and state legislators.

Until recently, Colorado had the same problem, but Colorado has amended its Constitution to ban slavery. Period. No exceptions. Alabama can do the same.¹

Send a quick email to your state legislators and governor.

Banning slavery is not simply a formality. U.S. prisons market the labor of prisoners and have created financial incentives to maintain that labor force. While prisoners may benefit from training, and may prefer employment to doing nothing, they and society as a whole do not benefit from labor without a living wage, labor without workers’ rights, labor that undermines others’ wages, and labor that creates motivations to keep more people in prison longer.

That’s slavery.

Let’s end it.

Paying prisoners for their labor enables them not only to better provide for themselves while in prison, but also to pay bills and unpaid court fees that may have landed many of them in prison in the first place. Compensating prisoners for their labor through a legitimate “Work Time” system that reduces their sentence grants hardworking prisoners the opportunity to be reviewed early by parole boards — which also helps state taxpayers.

Click here to send the following message to those who have the power to ban slavery in Alabama:

As a constituent, I urge you to take immediate action to amend our state constitution to ban slavery and involuntary servitude as punishment for a crime, and in all circumstances. While Colorado has amended its Constitution to ban slavery entirely, our state lags behind. Our current Constitution protects and promotes the legal exploitation of people’s labor and human dignity and should be amended immediately.

After signing the petition, please use the tools on the next webpage to share it with your friends.

This work is only possible with your financial support. Please chip in $3 now.

— The RootsAction.org Team

P.S. RootsAction is an independent online force endorsed by Jim Hightower, Barbara Ehrenreich, Cornel West, Daniel Ellsberg, Glenn Greenwald, Naomi Klein, Bill Fletcher Jr., Laura Flanders, former U.S. Senator James Abourezk, Frances Fox Piven, Lila Garrett, Phil Donahue, Sonali Kolhatkar, and many others.

Footnote:
1. Rhode Island has banned slavery in its Constitution since 1843. Twenty-seven states’ constitutions don’t mention slavery. Vermont’s Constitution allows slavery for people under 21 years old or consenting to it or enslaved for payment of debts, damages, fines, or costs. These are the 20 states that allow slavery as punishment for crime: Alabama, Arkansas, California, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, Nebraska, Nevada, North Carolina, North Dakota, Ohio, Oregeon, Tennessee, Utah, and Wisconsin. The state of Colorado has removed itself from that list.

Background:
>>  Fellowship of Reconciliation: “How We Got Colorado to Become the First State to Abolish Slavery”
>>  Kevin Rashid Johnson: “Prison Labor Is Modern Slavery. I’ve Been Sent to Solitary for Speaking Out”

www.RootsAction.org