Passed in 1865, the Thirteenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution is celebrated for abolishing slavery and involuntary servitude. However, to the surprise of many, the Thirteenth Amendment includes an exception clause that legalizes slavery and involuntary servitude when used as punishment for crime. Akin to human trafficking, this exception has allowed for the exploitation of human beings for profit! 8 states have amended their state constitutions to remove slavery and/or involuntary (even as a punishment for a crime). Abolitionists and activists in New Jersey, New York, Maine, South Carolina, Texas, and Florida are currently advocating for legislation that adopts anti-slavery language into their state constitutions. In April 2023, we at the Georgia chapter of All of Us or None announced our campaign to #EndSlaveryInGA and amend Georgia's slavery law to read "There shall be neither slavery nor involuntary servitude in this state".

• Incarcerated people receive little to no pay for their work (incarcerated Georgians receive zero)
• Incarcerated people receive no protection or compensation in the event of injury or death
• Incarcerated people are not allowed to unionize
• Incarcerated people they are punished and retaliated against if they refuse to work (abuse, denial of visitation/or phone calls, denial of meals, made to work longer hours, solitary confinement, etc.)
• Incarcerated people are excluded from basic workplace safety protections and are sent to work on locations with little to no training in unsafe conditions without protective gear that would be standard in other workplaces
• Incarcerated people are denied the same jobs for pay when they are released, which contributes greatly to the state's unemployment rate.

The history of slavery in the United States is closely connected to the history of our economy. Because of the exception in the 13th amendment, over 4,100 corporations exploit the exception to make billions in profit off the FREE labor of incarcerated people! From fighting forest fires to maintaining water treatment plants to producing the mattresses we sleep on to building the homes we live in to making equipment for the military, incarcerated people produce over $12 BILLION in goods and services each year while local, state and federal governments, private prisons and private companies get rich from SLAVE labor, thereby being a driver that incentivizes mass incarceration. Warehousing bodies for profit is a lucrative venture that only benefits those who want to hold on to slavery at the expense of mostly black bodies and it needs to end!

By changing Georgia's law, as Georgians and supporters, we will make a bold statement that we will no longer put profits over people and that slavery is inhumane, immoral, is bad for the state, its economy and most importantly, to the millions of families that are impacted by it and its collateral damage (exploitation, poverty, debt, retaliation, unemployment, broken families, solitary confinement and even death). 

Sign our petition today to boldly say that #GARejectsSlavery!