Slavery should be removed from the Louisiana Constitution in all forms

As our local legislators are in their session to try to change state laws, there are some concerns peculiar to the disadvantaged that need to be addressed in the legislature. It would be extremely helpful if our delegation would consider the following:

End Slavery in Louisiana

    Article I of the Louisiana state constitution prohibits slavery in Louisiana for law-abiding citizens. However, if a citizen commits a crime the constitution allows the person to be enslaved or forced to give “involuntary service.”

    Thousands are convicted in Louisiana each year and sentenced to jail terms “at hard labor,” which means “involuntary servitude” or slavery.

    If a convict elects to work, he should be paid a reasonable wage. Presently, many sherriffs take advantage of convicts, allow them to participate in work release programs in which they are paid minimum wage, but then take 90% or more of the wages urged by charging the inmates rent for their jail cells, and for costs such as toilet tissue, soap and van transportation. When convicts are released, many should have thousands of dollars accumulated, but most have little or nothing because law enforcement legally took their pay since they were sentence to slavery anyway.

If the state constitution eliminates all forms of involuntary service of slavery in Louisiana, this practice would stop.

     Action requested: A constitutional amendment is needed to remove the exception on the prohibition of slavery which allows “involuntary servitude.” Sentences to “hard labor” of all defendants should be reduced to prison time, but without the requirement for hard labor. (We are mindful that the 13th Amendment of the U.S. Constitution also allows slavery, but that should be changed, too.)

Family Court for the 4th District

     There are presently family courts in East Baton Rouge and the juvenile courts of Orleans, East Baton Rouge, Caddo, and Jefferson Parishes, they are courts of special jurisdiction having exclusive original jurisdiction over certain types of cases, which in other districts in Louisiana are handled by district courts or district, parish and city courts concurrently.  There is no family court in the 4th District.

     A family court would be one step toward focusing on the resolution of domestic violence and family disputes outside of the public eye. Just as juvenile courts are conducted privately, family court matters should be treated similarly with the goal of salvaging families. The courts could take advantage of a variety of remedies including counseling, diversions, pastoral care, and others, designed to addressed core of family issues outside of the public eye, and with rehabilitation rather than jail being the objective.

      Action Request. There should be a family court for the 4th District, exclusive of the present juvenile court, that deals privately with family matters.