I consider myself fairly well-educated and informed, but I found myself surprised that the 13th amendment to the US Constitution made slavery and forced labor *completely legal* IF a state is using it as punishment. (One guess which people are most likely to be forced into this legal slavery, and which locales are most likely to employ it.) See The Shawshank Redemption, or more recently, this great AP investigation showing hundreds of US food brands are using slave labor as part of their inputs. https://www.marketplace.org/2024/02/01/hundreds-of-food-brands-linked-to-hidden-prisoner-workforce-ap-reports/
One of the sad last vestiges of slavery. We can and should (and do, sometimes) make laws at the state level - but it remaining in the constitution is a black mark on our record.
@Biggles the problem with state-level laws is that some of our states are just absolute dumpster fires
While true - it's better than *not* doing anything. A partial win here is far superior to no win.
