Lawmakers plan to introduce a joint resolution that would remove language from the 13th Amendment allowing involuntary servitude to take place as punishment for a crime.
The proposal is expected to be unveiled on Wednesday, according to the Associated Press, and has the support of Democrats in the House and Senate.
The 13th Amendment of the Constitution currently reads: “Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, except as a punishment for crime whereof the party shall have been duly convicted, shall exist within the United States, or any place subject to their jurisdiction.”
The resolution aims to eliminate the punishment for a crime exception. Sens. Bernie Sanders of Vermont, Ed Markey of Massachusetts, and Chris Van Hollen of Maryland are all co-sponsors of the resolution. Sanders is an independent who caucuses with the Democrats.
Sen. Jeff Merkley of Oregon told the outlet that the amendment “continued the process of a white power class gravely mistreating Black Americans, creating generations of poverty, the breakup of families and this wave of mass incarceration that we still wrestle with today.”
Rep. William Lacy Clay, whose district is based in St. Louis, is spearheading the House version of the proposal. He told the publication that it would “eliminate the dehumanizing and discriminatory forced labor of prisoners for profit that has been used to drive the over-incarceration of African Americans since the end of the Civil War.”
As constitutional amendments require approval by two-thirds of the House and Senate, as well as ratification by three-quarters of state legislatures, the resolution will take significant buy-in by both Republicans and Democrats to have a chance at succeeding. Merkley said he plans to bring up the proposal again next year if it does not succeed in the waning days of this term.
The resolution has the support of social justice and human rights organizations, but it is not clear if Republicans will support it. The Washington Examiner reached out to the White House as well as to the offices of three GOP senators, Mike Lee, Marco Rubio, and Ben Sasse, for comment but did not immediately hear back.
