Sangamon Sun

Illinois Democratic and Republican legislators have had opposing views about many issues within the state, but a measure calling on Congress to end forced servitude is gaining bipartisan support. 

Though the 13th Amendment ended slavery, it did not prevent those in prison from being exploited as cheap labor by major companies including, Walmart and AT&T, according to the support proposal known as House Joint Resolution 7. 

The Illinois House recently adopted the House Joint Resolution 7, authored by Rep. Mary Flowers (D-Chicago), which calls for an amendment to the U.S. Constitution. The resolution seeks to eliminate the last traces of slavery in the United States by disallowing the provisions included in the "punishment clause" of the 13th amendment. 

Rep. Tim Butler (R-Springfield) is one of the Republicans speaking out in support of amending the U.S. Constitution to rid it of the clause. 

"For [the] historical context of the 13th amendment, Illinois led the way on the 13th amendment," Rep. Tim Butler (R-Springfield) said. "It was President Lincoln. It was Sen. Lyman Trumbull, whose statue is right outside these doors, that authored the 13th Amendment, and the Illinois House and Senate [was] the first legislature to act the next day after the U.S. House passed the 13th amendment. So, Illinois has a tremendously historic role in authoring and enacting this amendment.”

The 13th amendment clause in question reads, “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.”

Referring to abolishing the 13th Amendment section that allows forced labor as part of the punishment of convicted individuals, the Republican lawmaker from Springfield said it is the right thing to do the “fact that the 13th Amendment with was written at a time where we may have viewed things."

Butler also noted that other states such as Utah and Nebraska have opted to strike out the 13th amendment provisions about forced labor from their state constitutions. He further stated that “it gives a sense to our colleagues about the importance of this across the country."