servitude

Proposition 6, the ballot measure that would have amended the California Constitution to prohibit involuntary servitude in prison, failed.

Voters also disagreed with the state party’s endorsements on four other measures, including a failed initiative that sought to ban involuntary servitude in prisons.

In recent years, seven states have outlawed slavery and involuntary servitude in their constitutions, including Colorado in 2018, Utah and Nebraska in 2020, and Alabama, Oregon, Tennessee and Vermont in 2022.

Proposition 6 — which would ban “involuntary servitude” as punishment for a crime — lacked majority support in deep-blue California on Wednesday even as supporters promoted it as a way to end what they call modern-day slavery.

This marks the second failed attempt to ban involuntary servitude and mandatory work requirements for state prisoners.