The amendment to fight slavery can return to the CA vote for the 2026 election.

California Legislative Black Cook and Reparation group Continue your struggle to scrape away from the last remnants of legalized slavery remaining within the State Constitution.

Assembly Member Lori Wilson, Democrat from the city of Suisun, this month presented a new Constitutional amendment Aimed at eliminating daily slavery practices with actual slave, who continue in California prisons.

Last November, a similar experience – Proposal 6, Failed to the urn, although there was no official opposition. With 47% of the voters in California in favor of eliminating the state constitution, which allows prison administrators to force persons deprived of disciplinary consequences, Wilson and the League of co -authors and sponsors hope to return the revised version in front of the front of the voters in 2026

“We do this again and go back because we felt it was a moral obligation and a righteous thing to do,” Wilson said.

The text of the new amendment will focus more on the word “slavery”, avoiding references to “discipline” against prisoners and “involuntary service”. Supporters of the amendment believe that the language has left many potential supports 6 supporters confused.

California declared itself a free country in 1850, but slaves from other states could bring their slaves with them without much consequences – especially for use in labor endeavors such as mining through the Gold Rush era. When the 13th amendment removed slavery but allowed the exception as a punishment for convicted crimes, California followed a claim and immediately began to use prisons such as Folsum and San Quentin to operate mostly black prisoners for a contract with labor and capital.

The California Special Group for Reparations and the Legislative Black Cause are trying to cancel the constitutional language, which has allows forced prison work for much of this decade. US rep. Sydney Kamlager-SniAt that time the state member of the Assembly, he set out a proposal in 2021, but he did not break up on the newsletter because of fears that he would force state prisons to Pay a minimum salary of working prisonersS

Wilson returned in 2023 with the measure that became support 6 and made it in a way that legislators believe they would allow voluntary work tasks in prisons and prisons for prisoners who want them.

But, caught in the political mix in 2024. Together Proposal 36 with a hard criminal And the national dynamics of the variable presidential election, prop. 6 seems to leave too many Californians confused and apathetic. The language of the voting summary does not focus on the word slavery; Instead, he described “involuntary service of persons closed”.

“What we heard from the voters during this time was many misunderstandings about the bill,” Wilson explained. “But when we trained at support 6, they all stand behind him. I did not talk to any person behind the account after understanding what the bill was doing, but it took a long time. “

The new version of Prop. 6, now the constitutional change of Assembly 6, simply states: “Slavery in all forms is forbidden.” The Prosecutor General will write the summary that the voters will see if the legislative power has set the amendment to the newsletter.

Recently in other countries, such as Alabama and NevadaThe voters approved the changes to the elimination of the forced prison labor allowance, where the newsletter language included the word slavery.

The new proposal is also different from prop. 6, avoiding a previous language stating: “The Ministry of Correction and Rehabilitation will not discipline any deprived person to refuse a work task.”

“It was a suspension for many voters who supported the concept but were concerned about this language that they could not be disciplined And what does that mean? ” – said Wilson.” This is a big word that must be invested in a constitution without any definition. ”

The last attention and appreciation for prisoners who responded to the Palisades fires can eventually help the proposal to fight slavery to gain momentum with the voters.

“Now People understand the role that these deprived personalities have had in dealing with our fires, “Wilson said. “We have those people who are on the first line. They have courage. They show a commitment. “

Defenders and sponsors say they are excited and ready to start preparing the audience for a vote for 2026 – and to start building the lessons they learned from the unsuccessful campaign in 2024.

“The last time we waited until it was ranked to go to the voters before we started any kind of campaign effort. We will not make this mistake again this circle, “says Esteban Nunes, chief lobbyist and chief consultant on the strategy of the Coalition for Anti-Rycidism.

Nunes served for six years within the California closed system and remembers his own experience with involuntary service. Study, working on a kitchen work, he encountered opposition when he tried to continue college education while he was imprisoned. And when he asked for his correctional manager for a little free time to communicate with his family during the emergency situation of the sister’s health crisis, Nunes was threatened with spelling that he did not report work to work.

Nunes said it was eagerly awaiting the approach of a major approach with an increased focus on the education of voters in the smaller cities throughout the country. “I think this really comes down to having people near these areas and making them really do local education with members of the City Council, with the Supervisory Board and try to see if we can get them in Support earlier. “

Another defender, Sam Brown from a non -profit emotional skills 10p program served 25 years of indefinitely life sentence and works as a technician for maintenance of health establishments in Lancaster prison in 2020. At the very beginning of Covid outbreaks, Brown supervisory authorities push him to clean infected cells without any personal protective equipment or understanding of the suffering viral spread of the disease.

When he tried to refuse his own safety, Brown says they threaten to write him a report on a violation of the rules – a documentation that would directly deny his hopes of winning conditionally. He worked against his will, not to suffer the consequences of a potential extension of his deprivation of regulations for years.

“These rules violations are the modern whip,” Brown said. “At the moment, it’s like California chosen to preserve the bondage of books. Some did it intentionally. Some people did not do it intentionally – because, you know, the law was misled in unknown or ambiguity, so to speak, and that confused them. “

Just like Nunez, Brown also said he was eager to see the processed proposal to move on to overcome the obstacles that arose in 2024, Including a well -funded propa crime measure. 36, which overshadowed the proposal to fight slavery.

“We did not have the finances, nor the power of celebrity to raise much awareness,” he said. “I also have the feeling that there is a silent strong opposition as prop. 36 and Prog. 6 species are connected. There was so much money from Home Depot, Walmart, Target, the entire Republican Party, the Union of Correctional Officers … All maintained support 36. ”

Looking forward, Wilson says he is optimistic, that California’s political environment will be more favorable in two years.

“In 2026, we are in the governors’ election – so this is focused on California,” she said. “This is not focused on national, but very focused on what is best for California. So, at the same time, we’re talking about “What is the best in the leadership of California?” Well, what is the best for him in policies and our constitution? Do we want to be anti-racism, anti-Robility? “

Joe Garcia is a local associate of California news.