The California slavery amendment on the November 2024 ballot, Proposition 6, was rejected by voters, so the state constitution still permits involuntary servitude as punishment for a crime. Lawmakers have already introduced a revised version, Assembly Constitutional Amendment 6, that could reach the 2026 ballot with narrower language.
What the Constitution Still Says
California’s constitution reads: “Slavery is prohibited. Involuntary servitude is prohibited except to punish crime.”1Justia Law. California Constitution Article I Section 6 – Declaration of Rights Those four words at the end, “except to punish crime,” are what Proposition 6 would have struck. In their place the measure proposed a flat ban: “Slavery and involuntary servitude are prohibited.”2California Secretary of State. California General Election Official Voter Information Guide – Text of Proposed Laws
The measure did not stop at removing the exception. It also barred the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR) from disciplining any incarcerated person who refused a work assignment, while preserving CDCR’s ability to award sentence credits to people who chose to work. The changes were set to take effect January 1, 2025.2California Secretary of State. California General Election Official Voter Information Guide – Text of Proposed Laws
How Prison Labor Works in California Today
Because the exception clause survives, CDCR can require incarcerated people to work and can discipline those who refuse. Pay rates are set by regulation and sit well below minimum wage. Regular assignments in custodial work, food service, laundry, and grounds keeping pay between $0.16 and $0.74 per hour. Lead workers at the top of the scale earn $0.64 to $0.74; general laborers earn $0.16 to $0.26.3New York Codes, Rules and Regulations. 3041.2. Incarcerated Person Pay Rates, Schedule and Exceptions
Firefighting through conservation camps pays daily. Grades run from $5.80 to $10.24 per day.3New York Codes, Rules and Regulations. 3041.2. Incarcerated Person Pay Rates, Schedule and Exceptions These are the crews who work alongside professional firefighters during California’s fire seasons. Supporters of Prop 6 cited these wages as exploitation. Opponents argued that prison jobs supply structure, training, and sentence-reduction credits that benefit incarcerated people whatever the hourly rate.
Why Voters Rejected Proposition 6
The measure had backing from civil rights and criminal justice reform groups, but it lost in November 2024. The official voter guide carried arguments that removing forced labor could disrupt prison operations, reduce rehabilitation programming, and shift costs onto taxpayers.
The design of the measure likely worked against it. By bundling the constitutional change with a specific operational rule, no discipline for refusing work, Prop 6 asked voters to endorse both in a single yes. Voters who agreed that the word “slavery” should leave the constitution could still balk at stripping every consequence for work refusal inside a prison. The Legislative Analyst’s Office also warned that fiscal effects were genuinely uncertain, running in either direction depending on how CDCR restructured incentives.4Legislative Analyst’s Office. Proposition 6
The Revised 2026 Effort
California lawmakers have introduced Assembly Constitutional Amendment 6, a narrower version aimed at the 2026 ballot. It drops the operational language about CDCR discipline and states only: “Slavery in all forms is prohibited.”
The pivot is strategic. By limiting the amendment to a broad prohibition, supporters hope to separate the constitutional question from the operational details of prison management, leaving those to the legislature and CDCR after any change takes effect. Whether that framing wins over voters who rejected Prop 6 will be tested in November 2026.
What Happened in Other States
Seven states have already removed similar exception clauses from their constitutions: Colorado, Utah, Nebraska, Alabama, Oregon, Tennessee, and Vermont. Colorado, the first, passed its amendment in 2018. Its Department of Corrections then left inmate work requirements in place, and a class action followed. A court eventually ordered the state to stop using threats of isolation and housing changes to compel work, giving corrections officials 28 days to revise their rules.
The line courts have drawn matters for California’s next attempt. One federal district court found that threatening isolation or physical punishment for refusing work may be unconstitutional, while removing privileges or earned good time may be permissible. Any future California measure will run into the same question: where forced labor ends and structured incentives begin.
Federal Prisons Are Not Covered
A state amendment, if one eventually passes, reaches only state prisons and county jails under California law. The Thirteenth Amendment, ratified in 1865, abolished slavery and involuntary servitude nationwide with one exception: “except as a punishment for crime whereof the party shall have been duly convicted.”5Library of Congress. U.S. Constitution – Thirteenth Amendment Federal courts have read that clause to permit compulsory labor in federal facilities, and the Fair Labor Standards Act has generally not been read to require minimum wage for incarcerated workers doing jobs inside prison walls. A 2024 Fourth Circuit ruling found minimum wage protections could apply when incarcerated workers perform jobs outside prison facilities alongside non-incarcerated employees, but that decision addressed narrow circumstances and did not change the broader framework.
For the roughly 10,000 people in federal prisons and detention centers in California, a state slavery amendment would have no direct effect on work obligations.