In summary
Californians rejected the anti-slavery ballot measure Proposition 6, which would have forbid forced prison labor. Reparations advocates want to try again in 2026.
California’s Legislative Black Caucus and the Reparations Task Force continue their fight to scrape away at the last vestiges of legalized slavery remaining within the state constitution.
Assemblymember Lori Wilson, a Democrat from Suisun City, this month introduced a new constitutional amendment aimed at abolishing the everyday de facto slavery practices that persist inside California prisons.
Last November, a similar attempt — Proposition 6, failed at the ballot box despite not having any formal opposition. With 47% of California voters in favor of removing language from the state constitution that allows prison administrators to force incarcerated individuals to work under threat of disciplinary consequences, Wilson and a league of co-authors and sponsors hope to get the revised version back in front of voters in 2026.
“We’re doing this again and going back because we felt like it was a moral obligation and a righteous thing to do,” said Wilson.
The text of the new amendment would focus more narrowly on the word “slavery,” avoiding references to “discipline” against prisoners and to “involuntary servitude.” Backers of the amendment believe that language left many potential Prop. 6 supporters confused.
California declared itself a free state in 1850, yet slave owners from other states could bring their slaves with them without much consequence — particularly for use in labor endeavors like mining during the gold rush era. When the 13th Amendment abolished slavery but allowed the exception as punishment for convicted crimes, California followed suit and immediately started using prisons like Folsom and San Quentin to exploit mostly Black prisoners for contracted labor and capital gain.
The California Reparations Task Force and Legislative Black Caucus have been trying to repeal the constitutional language that allows forced prison labor for much of this decade. U.S. Rep. Sydney Kamlager-Dove, at the time a state assemblymember, put forward a proposal in 2021 but it fell short of getting on the ballot because of concerns that it would compel state prisons to pay minimum wage to working prisoners.
Wilson returned in 2023 with the measure that became Prop. 6 and crafted it in a way that lawmakers believed would have allowed voluntary work assignments in prisons and jails for incarcerated people who wanted them.
But, caught in the 2024 political mix alongside tough-on-crime Proposition 36 and the national dynamics of the volatile presidential election, Prop. 6 seemed to leave too many Californians confused and apathetic. The ballot summary’s language did not focus on the word slavery; instead it described “involuntary servitude for incarcerated persons.”
“What we heard from the voters during that time was a lot of misunderstandings around the bill,” explained Wilson. “But when we educated on Prop. 6, they were all behind it. I didn’t talk to any person that wasn’t behind the bill once they knew what the bill did, but that took a lot of time.”
The new version of Prop. 6, now Assembly Constitutional Amendment 6, simply states: “Slavery in all forms is prohibited.” It will be up to the Attorney General’s Office to write the summary that voters would see if the Legislature places the amendment on the ballot.
Recently in other states, such as Alabama and Nevada, voters approved amendments to remove the allowance of forced prison labor where the ballot language included the word slavery.
The new proposal also differs from Prop. 6 in avoiding previous language which stated, “The Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation shall not discipline any incarcerated person for refusing a work assignment.”
“That was a hangup for a lot of voters who were supportive about the concept, but were concerned about this language that they can’t be disciplined and what does that mean?” said Wilson. “That is a big word to put in a constitution without any definition.”
Recent attention and appreciation toward incarcerated firefighters who responded to the Palisades fires may ultimately help the anti-slavery proposal gain momentum with voters.
“Now people understand the role that these incarcerated individuals had in tackling our wildfires,”said Wilson. “We have these people who are on the front line. They have bravery. They’re showing commitment.”
Advocates and sponsors say they’re excited and ready to begin prepping the voting public for 2026 — and to begin building off the lessons they learned from the failed 2024 campaign.
“Last time, we waited ‘til this qualified to go to voters before we launched any kind of campaign efforts. We’re not gonna make that mistake again this go-round,” said Esteban Nunez, a head lobbyist and chief strategy consultant for the Anti-Recidivism Coalition.
Nunez served six years within the California prison system and remembers his own experiences with involuntary servitude. Stuck working a kitchen job, he faced opposition when trying to pursue a college education while incarcerated. And when he asked his correctional supervisor for a bit of time off to communicate with his family during a sister’s health crisis emergency, Nunez found himself threatened with a write-up for failing to report to work.
Nunez said he looks forward to a grassroots approach with heightened focus on educating constituents in smaller counties across the state. “I think it really comes down to having people within proximity to those areas and having them really do local education with city council members, with board of supervisors, and trying to see if we can get them in support early.”
Another advocate, Sam Brown of the emotional skills nonprofit 10P Program, served 25 years of an indeterminate life sentence and worked as a health care facilities maintenance technician inside Lancaster prison in 2020. At the very onset of COVID outbreaks, Brown’s supervisors pushed him to clean infected cells without any personal protective equipment or understanding of the disease’s prolific viral spread.
When he tried to refuse for his own safety, Brown says they threatened to write him up with a rules violation report — documentation that would have directly derailed his hopes to gain parole. He worked against his will rather than suffer the consequences of potentially extending his incarceration for years.
“Those rules violations reports are the modern day whip,” said Brown. “As of right now, it’s like California elected to keep slavery on the books. Some people did it intentionally. Some people didn’t do it intentionally — because, you know, the law was muddled in obscurity or vagueness, so to speak, and it confused them.”
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Just like Nunez, Brown also said he’s eager to see the revised proposal move forward to overcome the obstacles that arose in 2024, including the well-funded crime measure Prop. 36 that overshadowed the anti-slavery proposal.
“We didn’t have the finances nor the celebrity power to raise a lot of awareness,” he said. “I also feel like there was a silent strong opposition because Prop. 36 and Prop. 6 kind of got conflated. There was so much big money from Home Depot, Walmart, Target, the whole Republican Party, the correctional officers’ union… Everybody supported Prop. 36.”
Looking ahead, Wilson says she’s optimistic that California’s political environment will be more favorable in two years.
“In 2026, we’re on the gubernatorial election — so it is very California focused.” she said. “It’s not nationally focused but very focused on what is best for California. So at the same time we’re talking about ‘What is best in California leadership?’ Well, what is best for it in policies and our constitution? Do we wanna be anti-racism, anti-slavery?”
Joe Garcia is a California Local News fellow.
