The 13th Amendment abolished slavery. What follows the abolition, separated by the word “except,” has been generating litigation and constitutional argument for 60 years. Most Americans can’t identify it. Section 1 is 39 words and worth reading before the argument about it proceeds any further.

“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.”