Williams, Merkley, Booker Lead Push to Close Constitutional Loophole Allowing for Slavery

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Congresswoman Nikema Williams (GA-05) and U.S. Senator Jeff Merkley (OR) today teamed up with New Jersey’s U.S. Senator Cory Booker to reintroduce the End the Exception Amendment. The bicameral resolution would strike the ‘Slavery Clause’ of the 13th Amendment, a constitutional loophole that allows slavery “as a punishment for crime” in the United States.

Congresswoman Nikema Williams (GA-05) said: 

“Slavery was wrong from day one, and we should have abolished it when the 13th Amendment was ratified. I will keep pushing, no matter how long it takes, for Congress to close the Slavery Loophole in the Constitution, finally ending slavery in America in every form, once and for all. It’s been one hundred sixty years since we passed the 13th Amendment. We’ve waited long enough. The time to pass the End the Exception Amendment is now.”

U.S. Senator Jeff Merkley said:

“For over 160 years, the 13th Amendment has sought to ensure our democratic republic lives up to the principles of equality and justice that America was founded on, but our work still remains to fully confront the horrific legacies of slavery and white supremacy. For too long, the sinister Slavery Clause in our Constitution has denied the dream of a more perfect union, stripping millions of people—particularly people of color—of their most basic human rights and preventing true justice and equality for all. We must pass the End the Exception Amendment to eliminate the loophole that drove legal slavery long past passage of the 13th Amendment.”

U.S. Senator Cory Booker said:

“Over one hundred and sixty years after Congress passed the Thirteenth Amendment to abolish slavery and involuntary servitude, the law has failed to fully fulfill its promise of freedom for all. A loophole in the Thirteenth Amendment allows individuals to be sentenced to forced labor as ‘punishment for a crime. We cannot claim to be a free country while allowing people to be enslaved—it is a violation of our founding principles that continues to disproportionately impact Black Americans. It is time we eliminate slavery in every form and pass the End the Exception Amendment so we can live up to our country’s foundational principles of liberty, justice, and equality for all.”

Immediately following the 1865 ratification of the 13th Amendment—including the Slavery Clause—Southern jurisdictions passed what became known as “Black Codes,” laws that allowed the arrest of Black Americans in large numbers for minor crimes like loitering or vagrancy. The Slavery Clause was then used by sheriffs to lease out imprisoned Black 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, for example, by 1898, 73 percent of Alabama’s state revenue came from renting out the forced labor of Black Americans. Throughout the Jim Crow era, the Slavery Clause continued to incentivize minor crime convictions and drove the over-incarceration of Black Americans on infamous prison plantations, like Parchman, in Mississippi, and Angola, in Louisiana.

The End the Exception Amendment would finally correct this historic constitutional loophole and send a clear message: a ban on slavery cannot come with exceptions. While communities across the nation wait for federal action, nine states across the country—including Oregon—have banned slavery as a form of punishment.

The bicameral resolution is cosponsored by U.S. Senators Richard Blumenthal (D‑CT), Tammy Duckworth (D‑IL), Dick Durbin (D‑IL), Mazie Hirono (D‑HI), Edward J. Markey (D‑MA), Alex Padilla (D‑CA), Chris Van Hollen (D‑MD), Raphael Warnock (D‑GA), Elizabeth Warren (D‑MA), Peter Welch (D‑VT), and Ron Wyden (D-OR), and U.S. Representatives Gabe Amo (RI-01), Nanette Barragán (CA-44), Joyce Beatty (OH-03), Ami Bera (CA-06), Donald S. Beyer Jr. (VA-08), Sanford Bishop Jr. (GA-02), Troy Carter (LA-02), Greg Casar (TX-35), Judy Chu (CA-28), and Emanuel Cleaver II (MO-05) — along with Watson Coleman (NJ-12), Yvette D. Clarke (NY-09), Madeleine Dean (PA-04), Suzan DelBene (WA-01), Diana DeGette (CO-01), Chris Deluzio (PA-17), Mark DeSaulnier (CA-11), Maxine Dexter (OR-03), Maxwell Alejandro Frost (FL-10), Jesús “Chuy” García (IL-04), Steven Horsford (NV-04), Jared Huffman (CA-01), Jonathan L. Jackson (GA-02), Henry C. “Hank” Johnson Jr. (GA-04), Sydney Kamlager‑Dove (CA-37), Robin Kelly (IL-02), Raja Krishnamoorthi (IL-08), Susie Lee (NV-03), Summer Lee (PA-12), Stephen Lynch (MA-08), Nydia M. Velázquez (NY-07), Jennifer McClellan (VA-04), Gwen Moore (WI-04), Seth Moulton (MA-06), Eleanor Holmes Norton (DC-At‑Large), Ilhan Omar (MN-05), Jimmy Panetta (CA-19), Scott Peters (CA-50), Chellie Pingree (ME-01), Ayanna Pressley (MA-07), Mike Quigley (IL-05), Delia C. Ramirez (IL-03), Frederica S. Wilson (FL-24), Mary Gay Scanlon (PA-05), Jan Schakowsky (IL-09), Terri Sewell (AL-07), Lateefah Simon (CA-13), Melanie Stansbury (NM-01), Mark Takano (CA-39), Rashida Tlaib (MI-13), Lori Trahan (MA-03), Lauren Underwood (IL-14), Ted W. Lieu (CA-36), and Debbie Wasserman Schultz (FL-25).

Merkley, Williams, and Booker’s End the Exception Amendment is supported by 90 organizations, including Worth Rises, Vera Institute of Justice, and American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU). A full list of supporting organizations can be found by clicking here.

 “Slavery is wrong under all circumstances. Yet more than 160 years after the Thirteenth Amendment was ratified, an exception still allows governments and corporations to exploit incarcerated people for their labor. Congress has a moral obligation to finish the work of abolition by passing the End the Exception Amendment. No slavery, no exceptions,” said Celina Chapin, Chief Advocacy Officer, Worth Rises.

A one-page summary of the End the Exception Amendment can be found by clicking here.

Full text of the End the Exception Amendment can be found by clicking here.