The 13th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution allows slavery if it's punishment for a crime. In Arkansas, Georgia, Mississippi, and Texas, state governments force prisoners to work without pay. In many other states, prisoners are forced to work for virtually no pay.

At the state level, many states allow slavery, most of them in their Constitutions with language very similar to that of the 13th Amendment. In 2018, Colorado changed its Constitution to fully outlaw slavery. Since RootsAction began advocating on this issue, Nebraska and Utah have done the same in 2020, as have Oregon, Alabama, Tennessee, and Vermont in 2022.

California and Nevada have banning slavery on the ballot in November 2024.

If you live in one of these 18 places, you've got laws allowing slavery that still need to be changed: Arkansas, California, Georgia, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Maryland, Minnesota, Michigan, Mississippi, Missouri, Nevada, North Carolina, North Dakota, Ohio, Wisconsin, and Washington DC. If that's you, we've set up an online form you can use to easily email your legislators and governor: click here.