End Slavery in California Act Coalition
We are working to remove the stain of slavery from California’s Constitution by removing involuntary servitude in all its forms for all Californians.
We envision a California where all people, without exception, are free from slavery and involuntary servitude and where all people are protected by our state’s constitution.
It’s 2023, but slavery is still legal
Article 1, Section 6, of the California Constitution outlaws slavery and involuntary servitude “except as a punishment for crime where of the party shall have been duly convicted.” It’s time to right this wrong and ensure that California lives up to its values.
For more than a century after the abolition of slavery, our state constitution has preserved the right of those in power to enslave people as punishment for a crime.
From indigenous people in Spanish missions to Black slaves forced to mine for gold, California’s shameful history of slavery runs deep.
Today, that practice continues in the form of forced labor in prisons, which falls disproportionately on Black, Latino, Asian, and Indigenous people and reflects broader disparities in the criminal justice system.
Our state constitution is not a symbolic document—it is a living document that embodies our state’s values and forms the basis for all of our laws. Permitting slavery is immoral and we must abolish it permanently.