Amendment would ban slavery as punishment for crimes.
S.J.Res. 214 — A joint resolution 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 Jeff Merkley (D-OR) · 12 cosponsors · Introduced Sep 15, 2026 · Referred to committee
Your members of Congress
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What it does
This joint resolution proposes a change to the Constitution. It would ban states from forcing prisoners to work. The amendment keeps voluntary work programs. It lets judges choose other punishments like community service.
Who it affects
The amendment affects incarcerated people. It removes a rule that has let states use forced labor on prisoners.
One thing to notice
The amendment needs 38 state legislatures to approve it. Courts will decide what counts as voluntary work in prison.
From the analysis of the bill text, linked under Primary records below.
Where it stands
12 cosponsors: 12 Democrats.
- Sep 15, 2026 — Introduced · Congress.gov: “Introduced in Senate”
- Sep 15, 2026 — Referred to Senate Committee on the Judiciary · Congress.gov: “Read twice and referred to the 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.
- incarcerated — In prison or jail.
How this was measured
Analysis — Quorum's AI read the bill text published by Congress.gov (2,832 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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