California voters rejected a proposition that would amend the state constitution to bar forced prison labor in any form.
The Associated Press projects that voters in the Golden State have rejected Proposition 6, with about 72 percent of votes counted following last week’s General Election. As of Monday, the ballot measure was rejected by 53 percent of voters.
Prop. 6, as it is called, would have amended the California Constitution to bar slavery in any form and would have repealed a current provision allowing involuntary servitude as a punishment for crime.
The U.S. Constitution bans slavery but says it’s fine for the government to force people to work—known as “involuntary servitude”—as punishment for a crime. Many state constitutions say the same thing, including California’s….