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From: leroysoetoro@hrc-rejected.com

https://www.npr.org/2018/11/07/665295736/colorado-votes-to-abolish- slavery-2-years-after-similar-amendment-failed

Colorado voters have approved an amendment to their state's constitution
that completely abolishes slavery — by stripping out language that still
exists in the 13th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, which bans slavery
and servitude "except as a punishment."

Amendment A answered the question: "Shall there be an amendment to the
Colorado constitution that prohibits slavery and involuntary servitude as punishment for a crime and thereby prohibits slavery and involuntary
servitude in all circumstances?"

The amendment was put on the ballot with overwhelming bipartisan support
from Colorado's lawmakers. It will change Article II, Section 26 of the
state's constitution, which has stated for more than 100 years: "Slavery prohibited. There shall never be in this state either slavery or
involuntary servitude, except as a punishment for crime, whereof the party shall have been duly convicted."

The new version will shorten that second sentence to say, "There shall
never be in this state either slavery or involuntary servitude."

Explaining the debate over the now-approved amendment, member station
Colorado Public Radio reports:

"Proponents, including Abolish Slavery Colorado, argue that the state constitution should be updated because it represents a time when not all
people were seen as human beings or treated with dignity. Opponents say
the change could result in legal uncertainty around current prisoner work practices in the state."

Tuesday's vote showed 65 percent in favor of the amendment, with 35
percent opposed, according to the Colorado secretary of state's election
tally at 12 p.m. ET Wednesday. The result was well clear of the 55 percent required to pass an amendment.

Colorado's original language closely mirrored the 13th Amendment to the
U.S. Constitution. As ratified in 1865, that amendment states: "Neither
slavery nor involuntary servitude, except as a punishment for crime
whereof the party shall have been duly convicted, shall exist within the
United States, or any place subject to their jurisdiction."

This was the second time Colorado voters have considered the issue. A
similar measure was offered in 2016, but the language on that year's
ballot was deemed too convoluted. Some voters said they weren't sure
whether a "yes" or "no" vote meant they were for or against striking the exception clause.

Critics of the amendment have also said it "could interfere with prison
labor for things like fighting wildfires," as member station KUNC
reported. The measure's backers say such programs wouldn't be affected
because inmates voluntarily agree to take part.

Ahead of Tuesday's vote, the Colorado chapter of the American Civil
Liberties Union issued a call to approve Amendment A that said:

"After the Civil War, many states, mostly former slave states, immediately exploited the 13th Amendment loophole allowing slavery and involuntary servitude as a punishment for crime. Many former slaves were arrested and
then put back into slave labor conditions through convict leasing, a
lucrative practice that generated more than 70 percent of total state
revenues for the state of Alabama in 1898. From the 1920s through 1941,
convict leasing was gradually eliminated through state laws and by
presidential executive order. The constitutional loophole, however, was
never removed."

Constitutional law scholar Richard B. Collins, a professor at the
University of Colorado-Boulder's law school, offers a different reading, calling it specious to say that the original state amendment endorsed
slavery.

"Colorado's provision is a virtual copy of the 13th Amendment," Collins
said in an email to NPR, "and there is no reason to think that those who adopted our state constitution intended anything different from the
federal original."

Noting lawmakers who pushed for the 13th Amendment, Collins says, "The
heroes of the abolition movement did it: Lincoln, Thaddeus Stevens,
Benjamin Wade, John Bingham. Is it plausible that they intended to allow slavery in prisons?"

In terms of the potential legal impact of Amendment A, Collins said, "Of
course prisoners' lawsuits will invoke this measure to advance claims
against our prisons."

The question now, he added, is "what will our courts do with that?"


--
Donald J. Trump, 304 electoral votes to 227, defeated compulsive liar in
denial Hillary Rodham Clinton on December 19th, 2016. The clown car
parade of the democrat party ran out of gas and got run over by a Trump
truck.

Congratulations President Trump. Thank you for cleaning up the disaster
of the Obama presidency.

Under Barack Obama's leadership, the United States of America became the
The World According To Garp.

ObamaCare is a total 100% failure and no lie that can be put forth by its supporters can dispute that.

Obama jobs, the result of ObamaCare. 12-15 working hours a week at minimum wage, no benefits and the primary revenue stream for ObamaCare. It can't
be funded with money people don't have, yet liberals lie about how great
it is.

Obama increased total debt from $10 trillion to $20 trillion in the eight
years he was in office, and sold out heterosexuals for Hollywood queer
liberal democrat donors.

--- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
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