California voters shot down Prop. 6, which would have banned forced labor in prison. With voters in Nevada approving a similar measure, some are left wondering if the results have anything to do with the use of a particular keyword - slavery.
The California proposal did not include the word slavery, while Nevada's did, and Harvard professor Robin Bernstein told KNX News Karen Adams,
"The word slavery, I think, first of all, is appropriate, it is important, it is accurate, and depending on the voters, it can be an impediment, or it can be a bridge to getting a bill passed."
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However, Bernstein, author of the book Freeman's Challenge: The Murder That Shook America's Original Prison for Profit, said that it's hard to predict what the word's impact would be.
"There is a bill under consideration called the 'No Slavery in New York Act,' and it is getting pushback," she said. "And it's getting pushed back specifically because of that word slavery."
Bernstein said people are fighting the bill because they feel that the word slavery is inappropriate, but she believes history suggests it is precisely the right word.
"In Auburn, New York, in the early 19th century, the people who invented this idea actually called prisoners, 'slaves of the state.'" she asserted.
She said in the current California prison system, those who refuse to work one of the profit-generating, non-paying assignments forced onto the confined can expect to lose parole or have their incarceration extended.
Prop. 6 would have forced the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation to set wages for voluntary work assignments in state prisons.
As for Navada's newly passed law, it is largely symbolic, leaving it up to the courts to decide on changes to prison labor.
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