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Arkansas Remove Slavery as Punishment for Crime from Constitution Initiative (2020)
| Arkansas Remove Slavery as Punishment for Crime from Constitution Initiative | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Election date November 3, 2020 | |
| Topic Constitutional rights and Constitutional language | |
| Status Not on the ballot | |
| Type Constitutional amendment | Origin Citizens |
The Arkansas Remove Slavery as Punishment for Crime from Constitution Initiative was not on the ballot in Arkansas as an initiated constitutional amendment on November 3, 2020.
Measure design
This measure would have removed language from the Arkansas Constitution that allowed the use of slavery and involuntary servitude as criminal punishments.[1]
Text of measure
Popular name
The popular name for this initiative would have been as follows:[1]
| “ | The Arkansas abolishment of slavery and involuntary servitude as punishment for a crime amendment.[2] | ” |
Full text
The full text of the measure is available here.
Background
Similar amendments on state ballots
Similar amendments are on the 2020 ballot in Nebraska and Utah.
In 2018, voters in Colorado approved Amendment A, which removed language from the state constitution that said slavery and involuntary servitude were permitted as criminal punishments.
Federal constitution
The Thirteenth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution was ratified on December 6, 1865. Like the Arkansas Constitution, the Thirteenth Amendment prohibited slavery and involuntary servitude, except as a punishment for those convicted of crimes. The text of the Thirteenth Amendment is as follows:
|
1. 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. 2. Congress shall have power to enforce this article by appropriate legislation. |
State constitutions
Slavery as criminal punishment
As of 2024, eight states had constitutions that included provisions prohibiting enslavement and involuntary servitude but with an exception for criminal punishments. These constitutional provisions were added to state constitutions, in their original forms, from the 1850s to the 1890s.
| State | Constitution | Language |
|---|---|---|
| Arkansas | Article II, Section 27 | "There shall be no slavery in this State, nor involuntary servitude, except as a punishment for crime." |
| Indiana | Article I, Section 37 | "There shall be neither slavery, nor involuntary servitude, within the State, otherwise than for the punishment of crimes, whereof the party shall have been duly convicted." |
| Kentucky | Article I, Section 25 | "Slavery and involuntary servitude in this State are forbidden, except as a punishment for crime, whereof the party shall have been duly convicted." |
| Minnesota | Article I, Section 2 | "There shall be neither slavery nor involuntary servitude in the state otherwise than as punishment for a crime of which the party has been convicted." |
| Mississippi | Article III, Section 15 | "There shall be neither slavery nor involuntary servitude in this state, otherwise than in the punishment of crime, whereof the party shall have been duly convicted." |
| Nevada | Article I, Section 17 | "Neither Slavery nor involuntary servitude unless for the punishment of crimes shall ever be tolerated in this State." |
| North Dakota | Article I, Section 6 | "Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, unless for the punishment of crime, shall ever be tolerated in this state." |
| Wisconsin | Article I, Section 2 | "There shall be neither slavery, nor involuntary servitude in this state, otherwise than for the punishment of crime, whereof the party shall have been duly convicted." |
Involuntary servitude as criminal punishment
As of 2023, eight states had constitutions that included provisions permitting involuntary servitude, but not slavery, as a criminal punishment.
| State | Constitution | Language |
|---|---|---|
| California | Article I, Section 6 | "Slavery is prohibited. Involuntary servitude is prohibited except to punish crime." |
| Georgia | Article I, Paragraph XX | "There shall be no involuntary servitude within the State of Georgia except as a punishment for crime after legal conviction thereof or for contempt of court." |
| Iowa | Article I, Section 23 | "There shall be no slavery in this state; nor shall there be involuntary servitude, unless for the punishment of crime." |
| Kansas | Bill of Rights, Section 6 | "There shall be no slavery in this state; and no involuntary servitude, except for the punishment of crime, whereof the party shall have been duly convicted." |
| Louisiana | Article I, Section 3 | "Slavery and involuntary servitude are prohibited, except in the latter case as punishment for crime." |
| Michigan | Article I, Section 9 | "Neither slavery, nor involuntary servitude unless for the punishment of crime, shall ever be tolerated in this state." |
| North Carolina | Article I, Section 17 | "Slavery is forever prohibited. Involuntary servitude, except as a punishment for crime whereof the parties have been adjudged guilty, is forever prohibited." |
| Ohio | Article I, Section 6 | "There shall be no slavery in this state; nor involuntary servitude, unless for the punishment of crime." |
Path to the ballot
The state process
In Arkansas, the number of signatures required to qualify an initiated constitutional amendment for the ballot is equal to 10 percent of the votes cast for governor in the most recent gubernatorial election. Proponents must collect signatures equaling at least half of the designated percentage of gubernatorial votes in at least 50 of the state's counties. Signatures remain valid until the date of the next general election following the certification of ballot language. Signature petitions must be submitted four months prior to the election at which the measure is to appear.
The requirements to get initiated constitutional amendments certified for the 2020 ballot:
- Signatures: 89,151 valid signatures were required.
- Deadline: The deadline to submit signatures was July 3, 2020.
If the secretary of state certifies that enough signatures were submitted in a petition, the initiative is put on the ballot. If a petition fails to meet the signature requirement, but the petition has at least 75 percent of the valid signatures needed, petitioners have 30 days to collect additional signatures or demonstrate that rejected signatures are valid.
Details about this initiative
- Roderick Greer Talley filed this initiative on November 25, 2019.[3]
- Sponsors did not publish the initiative in a newspaper of general statewide circulation before the June 3, 2020, deadline. Therefore, the initiative did not qualify for the 2020 ballot.[4][5]
See also
External links
Footnotes
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 University of Arkansas Cooperative Extension Service, "AThe Arkansas abolishment of slavery and involuntary servitude as punishment for a crime amendment," accessed November 26, 2019
- ↑ Note: This text is quoted verbatim from the original source. Any inconsistencies are attributable to the original source.
- ↑ University of Arkansas Cooperative Extension Service, "State Ballot Issues in Arkansas," accessed Novmeber 25, 2019
- ↑ Arkansas Secretary of State, "Arkansas Initiative and Referendum Handbook," accessed June 10, 2020
- ↑ University of Arkansas Cooperative Extension Service, "State Ballot Issues in Arkansas," accessed June 10, 2020
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State of Arkansas Little Rock (capital) |
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