Host Karen James is joined by Sandy Chung, executive director of ACLU of Oregon, and Troy Ramsey with Oregonians Against Slavery and Involuntary Servitude (OASIS). Oregon legislators passed Senate Joint Resolution 10 through both chambers with strong bipartisan support to refer a measure to the ballot that removes language from the Oregon Constitution that provides legal justification for slavery. In November 2022, Oregonians will vote on Measure 112 to amend the state constitution prohibiting slavery and involuntary servitude. A ‘YES’ vote on Measure 112 will remove the last 15 words in Article 1 Section 34 of the Oregon Constitution: “There shall be neither slavery, nor involuntary servitude in the State, otherwise than as a punishment for crime, whereof the party shall have been duly convicted.“ Additionally, to clarify that removing this language will not impact current work and rehabilitation programs, an additional paragraph will be added: “Upon conviction of a crime, an Oregon court or a probation or parole agency may order the convicted person to engage in education, counseling, treatment, community service or other alternatives to incarceration, as part of sentencing for the crime, in accordance with programs that have been in place historically or that may be developed in the future, to provide accountability, reformation, protection of society or rehabilitation.”
If passed, Oregon will join Utah, Colorado, Nebraska and Rhode Island in removing similar language from their states’ constitutions.
https://oregoniansunitedtoendslavery.com/
OASIS https://oasisprisoncoalition.org/
- KBOO