Nevada voters will have a chance this election to remove language from the state Constitution that allows for slavery or indentured servitude as criminal punishment. 

Advocates say that Question 4 on the 2024 ballot would help the state advance civil rights for all. But what would the measure actually mean for the roughly 10,000 incarcerated people in Nevada? 

Summary of what it does: The amended text would read: “Neither Slavery nor involuntary servitude shall ever be tolerated in this State.” This scratches the original language, which prohibited involuntary servitude except “in the punishment for crimes, whereof the party shall have been duly convicted.” 

That language appears in other state constitutions and is often referred to as the “penal exception” to the 13th Amendment, which abolished slavery and involuntary servitude in the United States except as punishment for a crime. Southern states took advantage of this loophole in the 19th century to adopt punitive Black codes that allowed authorities to incarcerate Black people for petty crimes, such as vagrancy, and force them to work.

Since 2018, several states and members of Congress have pushed to remove penal exception constitutional language, including several measures that were approved by voters in Colorado, Nebraska, Utah, Alabama, Oregon, Tennessee and Vermont.

Notably, prison work programs will continue if the measure passes, some which pay as little as $0.25 per hour.

How did we get here: For the Legislature to place a constitutional amendment on the ballot, the amendment must first pass the Assembly and Senate in two consecutive legislative sessions.

The amendment was introduced to the 2021 Legislature as AJR10, and passed unanimously in both chambers during the 2021 and 2023 legislative sessions, securing its place on the 2024 ballot.

What have other states done?

Eight states have passed ballot measures between 2016 and 2022 that removed language in their state constitutions that allowed for enslavement or servitude as punishments for crimes. Similar measures were rejected by voters in Colorado and Louisiana.

Argument for passing Question 4: Question 4 received unanimous support from legislators. Civil rights groups such as the Las Vegas NAACP said that it will help promote the rights of Black Americans and other people of color within Nevada. 

Assemblyman Howard Watts (D-Las Vegas), who sponsored the bill in 2021, said during a legislative hearing last year that the passage of the measure would ensure that nobody will ever have to endure state-sanctioned slavery again, opening a “new chapter” in Nevada history. 

“We have seen over the last year that the scars of slavery and racism still cause pain throughout this state and our country,” Watts said. “Changing this language is important to help us all heal and demonstrate our commitment to the concept of justice for all.”

Arguments against passing Question 4: No arguments against the measure were presented during either legislative session. In a summary of the ballot question prepared by the secretary of state’s office, a section titled “Arguments Against Passage” warned that the measure may have “unintended consequences” within the criminal justice system relating to prison work requirements, community service and parole.

The passage argues that the measure could create “legal uncertainty” around prison labor. 

Primary funders:  There were no political action committees registered to support or oppose the measure.

Financial Impact: The resolution’s fiscal note says that the Legislature has been unable to determine the measure’s financial impact.

Intern Kelsea Frobes contributed reporting to this story.