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A28 u.s. news
Dialuna 27 Juni 2022

California Senate rejects involuntary servitude amendment

(AP) — A proposal aimed to work.” “Banning the work
at removing the last rem- requirement in our prisons
nant of slavery from would undermine our reha-
California law failed to bilitation programs,” Glazer
pass the state Senate on said. “Inmates will sue claim-
Thursday after Gov. Gavin ing their wages are too low,
Newsom’s administration their hours are too high or
warned it could cost tax- that it is unconstitutional to
payers billions of dollars link goodtime credit and ear-
by forcing the state to pay ly release to their willingness
prisoners a $15-per-hour to work.”
minimum wage.
Glazer said the state should
The U.S. Constitution bans change the amendment to
slavery but says it’s OK for make it clear that involuntary
the government to force servitude does not include
people to work — known as any rehabilitative activity re-
“involuntary servitude” — quired of people in prison.
as punishment for a crime. But it appeared Kamlager
Many state constitutions say would not support that.
the same thing, including
California’s. “I don’t want to negotiate
what involuntary servitude
Some state lawmakers want- means,” she said, adding: “I
ed to change California’s reaffirmed its commitment In 2018, Colorado was the the report said, most without believe even if we are incar-
Constitution to ban all forms to keeping slavery and invol- first state to ban involuntary adequate protections against cerated, we still should have
of involuntary servitude. untary servitude in the state’s servitude as punishment for labor exploitation. dignity.”
They wrote an amendment constitution. Way to go, Con- a crime. Since then, inmates
and planned to put it on the federates,” tweeted Demo- have filed lawsuits seeking to Local governments could also For decades, California used
ballot this fall for voters to cratic state Sen. Sydney Ka- be paid a minimum wage and be impacted. If the courts that involuntary servitude ex-
approve. But Thursday, the mlager, who supported the alleging they were pressured interpret the constitutional ception to make money from
California Senate rejected the amendment and said she will into working despite health change to bar community its prison population by leas-
amendment over concerns bring it up for another vote concerns. It’s unclear if those service in lieu of incarcera- ing inmates — mostly Black
of how it would impact the next week. lawsuit have been resolved. tion, those individuals might men — to private companies
state prison system, which go to jail instead, at a much for work.
requires inmates to work and The Newsom administration An American Civil Liber- higher cost, Edwards said.
often pays them less than $1 has warned that the amend- ties Union report this month That “convict lease” system
per hour. ment could require the state called for “far-reaching re- Democratic state Sen. Steve doesn’t exist anymore. But
to pay inmates a minimum forms to ensure prison la- Glazer said slavery “was an California prison inmates are
Lawmakers could try again wage, which in California bor is truly voluntary and evil that will forever be a required to either work or
next week. But if the amend- is $15 per hour. That would that incarcerated workers are stain on the history of our participate in education or re-
ment doesn’t pass by June 30, cost taxpayers about $1.5 bil- paid fairly, properly trained, great nation.” But he said habilitative programs. Inmate
it won’t be on the ballot this lion per year, according to and able to gain transferable the proposed amendment jobs — which include things
year. Aaron Edwards, an analyst skills.” Two-thirds of state was not about slavery, but like clerks, painters and car-
with the California Depart- and federal prisoners nation- whether California “should penters — pay salaries as low
“The CA State Senate just ment of Finance. wide are required to work, require felons in state prison of 8 cents per hour.

Court: Harvard can be sued for distress over slave photos

(AP) — A Connecticut The state’s Supreme Judicial Norwich resident and her But the high court upheld and her family have said for
woman who says she’s de- Court partly vacated a lower family can plausibly make a the lower court’s ruling that years, it is time for Harvard
scended from slaves who court ruling that dismissed a case for suffering “negligent the photos are the property of to let Renty and Delia come
are portrayed in widely complaint from Tamara Lani- and indeed reckless infliction the photographer who took home.”
published, historical pho- er over photos she says depict of emotional distress” from them and not the subject
tos owned by Harvard her enslaved ancestors. The Harvard and remanded that themselves. Harvard spokesperson Ra-
University can sue the images are considered some part of their claim to the state “A descendant of someone chael Dane said the univer-
school for emotional dis- of the earliest that show en- Superior Court. whose likeness is reproduced sity is reviewing the decision.
tress, Massachusetts’ high- slaved people in the U.S. in a daguerreotype would not She also stressed the original
est court ruled Thursday. The judges said the university therefore inherit any prop- daguerreotypes are in archi-
The court concluded the failed to contact Lanier when erty right to that daguerreo- val storage and not on dis-
it used one of the images on a type,” the high court wrote in play, nor have they been lent
book cover and prominently its ruling. out to other museums for
featured it in materials for a more than 15 years, because
campus conference — even Lanier’s attorney said Thurs- of their fragility.
after she’d reached out about day’s ruling was a “historic
her ancestral ties. win” that marks one of the “Harvard has and will con-
first times a court has ruled tinue to grapple with its his-
“In sum, despite its duty of that descendants of enslaved toric connection to slavery
care to her, Harvard cava- people can seek accountabil- and views this inquiry as part
lierly dismissed her ances- ity for what their ancestors of its core academic mission,”
tral claims and disregarded endured. she said in a statement. “Har-
her requests, despite its own vard also strives to be an ethi-
representations that it would “Harvard is not the right- cal steward of the millions
keep her informed of further ful owner of these photos of historical objects from
developments,” the ruling and should not profit from around the globe within its
states. them,” Josh Koskoff said in a museum and library collec-
statement. “As Tamara Lanier tions.”