Every week at All Saints Church we put our faith into action. This week we are signing a letter to our members of Congress urging them to propose to the states an amendment to the Constitution that would end the exception in the 13th Amendment allowing involuntary servitude for conviction of a crime.

“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 13th Amendment, Section 1

While the 13th Amendment of the Constitution is understood to have ended the institution of slavery in 1865, the language of the amendment itself does not categorically abolish slavery. When Congress passed the 13th Amendment, the language included an exception for individuals that had been convicted of a crime. We are asking for your support in urging your elected representatives to cosponsor and support the joint resolutions in the House and the Senate proposing an amendment to the Constitution of the United States to end the exception in the 13th Amendment by prohibiting slavery and involuntary servitude as a criminal punishment.

It did not take long after the ratification of the 13th amendment for the criminal justice system to subject prisoners to dangerous slavery-like working conditions without compensation. A system of “Black codes” was implemented in the south to arrest on false or minimal charges, such as vagrancy, so that they could be convicted and leased by the state for labor. Through the 1930s, states put their prisoners to work at private railways, mines, and large plantations through “convict leasing.”

This loophole that still allows for involuntary servitude is viewed by many as contributing to the for-profit, private prison system. The legacy has evolved over decades with prison labor currently comprising a significant yet invisible portion of our country’s workforce. Refusing to work can result in a range of punishments from write-ups, periods of solitary confinement, or loss of privileges like visitation. The amendment’s exception preserves unjust remnants of our country’s legacy of slavery and allows for the undue suffering of many of God’s beloved children.

In 2018, General Convention passed a resolution on the issue of slavery in U.S. prisons by affirming the dignity of every human being created in the image of God, stating its opposition to all human slavery at any time, in any form, under any circumstance, and supporting efforts for changing the Constitution’s language to end slavery “without exception.” Presiding Bishop Curry recently joined the Free at Last Coalition, which along with other groups, seeks to amend the Constitution.

You can act today by urging your elected representatives to cosponsor the joint resolution proposing an amendment to the Constitution of the United States to end the exception in the 13th Amendment.

Options to Sign:

1. Sign a letter at the Action Table Sunday morning.
2. Download a PDF copy of the letter to sign and mail.
   Letter used at the Action Table          Letter for those outside California

3. Click on this link to sign a petition online.

If you ever need to look up your member of the U.S. House of Representatives or your U.S. Senators check here: www.house.gov and www.senate.gov.