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About The skanner. (Portland, Or.) 1975-2014 | View Entire Issue (Nov. 14, 2018)
Page 10 The Skanner Portland & Seattle November 14, 2018 News Colorado Votes to Abolish Slavery, Finally By Stacy M. Brown, NNPA Newswire Correspondent W hile many spent Tuesday and early Wednes- day celebrating midterm election wins, Colorado celebrated free- dom. With four of the five precincts reporting, slav- ery in all forms was abol- ished in the Centennial State. The Secretary of State’s Office said the amend- ment to Colorado’s Con- stitution received 65 per- cent of the votes already counted. “The margin is such that there is no doubt,” Lynn Bartels, a spokes- woman for the Colorado Secretary of State’s Of- fice, told reporters. Abolish Slavery Col- orado, a group that has crusaded for the abolish- ment, posted on its Face- book page, “It’s official! Amendment A passes!” Over 15 state constitu- tions in the United States permit slavery as a way of legal punishment for those who’ve committed a crime, despite the 13th Amendment being rati- fied in 1865. The current and un- clear wording in Colora- do’s constitution means “slavery and involuntary servitude may not be fully unconstitutional” according to the state’s ACLU chapter executive director Nathan Wood- liff-Stanley, via the Atlan- ta Black Star. Article II, Section 26 of Colorado’s constitution reads that there “shall never be in this state ei- ther slavery or involun- tary servitude, except as a punishment for crime, whereof the party shall have been duly convict- ed.” Voters on Tuesday seized upon the oppor- tunity to change the lan- guage. Going forward, the Constitution will read: “There shall never be in this state either slavery or involuntary servi- tude.” Jumoke Emery of Abol- ish Slavery Colorado told CNN that voters al- most got the amendment to pass two years ago, but blamed the legislators’ terminology for the out- come of the vote. “I hope that this puts forth the message that our past doesn’t have to be our future, that by and large we as Amer- icans are interested in fixing our mistakes and that there’s hope for our future,” Emery told the news outlet. Those who are against amending the constitu- tion say it’s not neces- sary because Colorado al- ready bans slavery. They also argued that certain prisoner programs could be affected. Since the 1860s, courts have interpreted the 13th Amendment as it plainly reads. “Once individu- als have been duly tried, convicted, sentenced, and imprisoned, courts will not find 13th Amend- ment violations where prison rules require in- mates to work.” The compensation of prison labor today re- flects this history. In Georgia and Texas, the maximum wage in dollars per day is $0. In Nevada, prisoners make $0.13 an hour. The average wage is between $0.93 a day and $4.93 a day – less than an hour of work at mini- mum wage. Conservative estimates put the value of output from prison labor at $2 billion annu- ally. Removing the word- ing from the Colorado constitution “closes the door on the possibility of future abuses, and it also sends a positive message in a time of great division in our nation,” said Na- than Woodliff-Stanley, the executive director of the ACLU. SUB PROPOSALS REQUESTED Madison High School Bid Package #1 RFPs 2735 Northeast 82nd Avenue Portland, OR, 97220 Proposal Due Date: Dec. 7, 2018 3:00 p.m. Job Walk: TBD. Job walks will be scheduled by scope package. Proposal Assistance Open House: November 30th, 2108 10:00 – 12:00 Construction starts July 2019 and will be complete July 2021 The Madison High School modernization project includes: • Complete demolition and abatement of existing theater, gym, cafeteria and admin area • Interior demolition and abatement of areas to remain • Seismic upgrades • New MEPTF systems • Complete renovation of existing spaces • New additions that include gym facilities, arts wing, science programs and a large commons/ cafe area • Campus site improvements and bleacher renova- tions with new baseball/softball fields 1705 SW Taylor Street, Suite 200 Portland OR 97205 Contact accepting proposals: Natasha Carroll Natasha.Carroll@fortisconstruction.com Phone: 503-459-4477 Fax: 503-459-4478 OR CCB#155766 Bid documents are available for review at the For- tis office, on Building Connected and at local plan centers. 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