Amendment would ban slavery as punishment for crimes.
H.J.Res. 216 — Proposing an amendment to the Constitution of the United States to prohibit the use of slavery and involuntary servitude as a punishment for a crime. · Filed by Nikema Williams (D-GA) · 54 cosponsors · Introduced Sep 15, 2026 · Referred to committee
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What it does
This joint resolution proposes a change to the Constitution. It would stop states from making people do forced labor as punishment for crimes. The amendment would keep voluntary work programs. It would let courts choose other punishments.
Who it affects
People in prison would be protected from forced labor. States would have to follow the new rule.
One thing to notice
The proposal keeps voluntary work programs and court choices about punishment.
From the analysis of the bill text, linked under Primary records below.
Where it stands
54 cosponsors: 54 Democrats.
- Sep 15, 2026 — Introduced · Congress.gov: “Introduced in House”
- Sep 15, 2026 — Referred to House Committee on the Judiciary · Congress.gov: “Referred to the House Committee on the Judiciary”
Dates and quoted wording are Congress.gov's action record; the timeline shows status changes, not every procedural step.
Words to know
- joint resolution — A proposal from Congress to change the Constitution.
- amendment — An official change or addition to the Constitution.
- voluntary work programs — Jobs that people choose to do, not forced labor.
How this was measured
Analysis — Quorum's AI read the bill text published by Congress.gov (3,576 characters) on Sep 19, 2026. Section numbers in the findings refer to that text, linked below; transparency and hidden-provision scores are compared against the median of 14,522 analysed bills.
Status and sponsors — Congress.gov's bill record — actions, committee referrals and cosponsors — loaded nightly. The timeline shows status changes, not every procedural action.
As of — page rendered 2026-09-22.
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