John,

You may not realize it, but a damaging slavery loophole still persists in
the U.S. Constitution to this day.

The 13th Amendment abolished most slavery in America, but it didn't
abolish it completely. Instead, the Amendment actually codified one form
of slavery with the single line “except as a punishment for crime.”

The "Slavery Clause" as it's been called ever since has incentivized law
enforcement, especially in the southern states, to target Black Americans
for arrest and incarceration. In 1865, sheriffs immediately began to lease
out imprisoned individuals to work landowners’ fields, which in some cases
included the very same plantations where the prisoners had previously been
enslaved.

The practice grew in prevalence and scope to the point that, by 1898, 73%
of Alabama’s state revenue came from renting out the forced labor of Black
Americans. Even worse, while the plantations of the late 1800's have been
replaced with corporations today, the practice still exists now. Over
4,100 corporations, including Verizon, American Airlines, and Sprint,
currently profit from mass incarceration in the United States.

[ [link removed] ]Now, Senator Jeff Merkley and Congresswoman Nikema Williams have
introduced the Abolition Amendment, which would strike the ‘Slavery
Clause’ of the 13th Amendment and they've asked for our support. Help show
Congress where the American people stand by adding your name as a citizen
co-sponsor now.

ADD YOUR NAME: [link removed]

Throughout the Jim Crow era, the Slavery Clause continued to incentivize
criminal and even minor crime convictions and drive the over-incarceration
of Black Americans and forced labor on infamous prison plantations like
Parchman in Mississippi and Angola in Louisiana.

This embedded discrimination fueling mass incarceration increased
corruption of our criminal justice system and has continued for decades
through elements of the War on Drugs, the proliferation of the three
strike laws, severe plea deals, and harsh mandatory minimum policies --
all of it having devastating impacts on communities of color.

Today’s mass incarceration policies have driven an $80 billion detention
industry and a rate of American incarceration that is nothing short of a
crisis, with 2.3 million prisoners -- 20% of the world’s incarcerated
population -- residing in the United States. It's no wonder America
currently contains 1,833 state and 110 federal prisons, 1,772 juvenile
facilities, 3,134 jails, and 218 immigration detention facilities when you
consider that forced labor drives millions of dollars in reduced labor
costs for some of the biggest corporations in the world, including
Wal-Mart, McDonald's and even Starbucks.

[ [link removed] ]It's time to end slavery in America once and for all. Please help
Senator Jeff Merkely and Congresswoman Nikema Williams build the winning
coalition they need to make it happen. Sign on as a citizen co-sponsor
today.

Sign On: [link removed]

Thank you for taking action today.

— Tre

Tre Graves
Campaign Organizer
Democracy for America




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