Proposition 6, which would end mandatory prison labor, trails
Proposition 6, a proposed amendment that would end forced labor in state prisons, was trailing in early results Tuesday night.
The measure would eliminate “involuntary servitude” from the state Constitution, which currently bans slavery and involuntary servitude except as a punishment for crime. This, advocates say, is what has allowed prisons to force prison workers to work and pay them under a dollar an hour. California is one of eight states that still allow involuntary servitude as a criminal punishment.
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More specifically, Proposition 6 would have ended mandatory work requirements for state prisoners and instead implemented a voluntary work program. Supporters of the measure said that a voluntary work program would protect prisoners from being disciplined for refusing a work assignment.
A poll by the Public Policy Institute of California in late September found weak support for the measure, with 46% of likely voters in support and 50% against it. That survey also found that Proposition 6 was the least popular among the 10 ballot measures that voters decided on Tuesday.
There were no official opponents to the measure.
California prison officials have proposed doubling wages for incarcerated workers, from a minimum of 8 cents an hour to a minimum of 16 cents an hour.
This is part of a national move to ban involuntary servitude in states whose constitutions still indicate the practice is legal. In 2022, voters in other states including Alabama, Oregon, Tennessee and Vermont passed similar measures. Louisiana voters failed to pass the measure in the same year. This was California’s second attempt.
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