On June 19, 1865, more than two years after the Emancipation Proclamation, federal troops arrived in Galveston, Texas, to inform Black Americans, enslaved in the deepest parts of the former Confederacy, that they were free. Juneteenth commemorates this announcement of freedom and serves as a powerful reminder of our commitment to freedom and justice.
It is also a call to recognize and address the forms of slavery that persist within our society today.
Despite the progress we have made, the work to truly abolish slavery in this country remains unfinished. The infamous exception clause in the 13th Amendment, which allows for slavery as punishment for a crime, continues to perpetuate forced labor within our prison system.
Colorado led the country in taking a monumental step forward in 2018 by passing Amendment A, removing the prison slavery exception from our state constitution. Yet, just like those still enslaved in Galveston in 1865, the reality for the people we have incarcerated in Colorado has changed all too little.
Despite the passage of Amendment A, prison slavery is still used today by the Colorado Department of Corrections, it is supported by our tax dollars, and tragically, it is being defended in court by our state.
People who we have incarcerated in Colorado prisons are frequently coerced into doing unpaid — or effectively unpaid — work under the threat of losing earned time, being prevented from communicating with their loved ones on the outside, facing more than 20 hours a day of solitary confinement, or other punitive measures. “Failure to work” — not performing work assigned or failing to report to work — is a class II offense, according to the DOC penal code.
In the first eight months of 2022, DOC punished more than 3,000 people for refusing to work, according to the results of an open records request submitted by the nonprofit Together Colorado to the corrections department in November 2022. The request asked for all records regarding incident reports for “Failure to Work” entered in 2022.
From my perspective, forcing people to work is a clear violation of the spirit and the letter of our constitution, and the will of Colorado voters who overwhelmingly supported the final abolition of slavery when they voted for Amendment A.
In 2022, two people who are currently incarcerated and have been forced to work against their will filed a lawsuit against the state seeking to stop the Department of Corrections from engaging in this practice. Their lawsuit doesn’t ask for money from the state, and it doesn’t seek to end work opportunities inside. All it says is that the state can’t force people to work, just as the voters intended in passing Amendment A.
Instead of ending this practice, our state is fighting in court and seeking to maintain the status quo — but there’s another path.
Colorado can be a beacon of justice and keep our communities safer by truly eradicating slavery within our prisons and replacing it with voluntary, rehabilitative work programs. These programs should aim to equip the people who we have put in prison with the skills and opportunities they need to successfully reintegrate into society.
As elected leaders, especially those within the Democratic Party, we have the authority to bring about this change and the opportunity to once again make history in Colorado by ordering the Department of Corrections to comply with our state’s constitution — Amendment A included — and stop perpetuating forced labor.
As Coloradans, we must lead not only in words but in actions, showing that abolishing slavery in our state constitution means abolishing it in practice as well.
In our nation’s past, people from all races fought together to eradicate slavery. On this Juneteenth, let us honor the legacy of those who were forced to toil under cruel conditions for generations by fighting for people in our state who, like those in Galveston, are still waiting on the freedom from slavery promised by Amendment A.
We elected leaders need to continue the work they started, in partnership with Gov. Jared Polis, to ensure that our state lives up to the promise of emancipation, providing dignity, justice and real rehabilitation for all.
James Coleman is a Democratic state senator for District 33, which includes Denver County.
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