Full Legislative History
Resolution Number: 2018-D013
Title: Create a Task Force to Address Constitutional Language Allowing Slavery in US Prisons
Legislative Action Taken: Concurred as Amended
Final Text:

Resolved, That this 79th General Convention affirm the dignity of every human being created in the image of God and is therefore against all human slavery at any time, in any form, under any circumstance; and be it further

Resolved, That this 79th General Convention urge the Presiding Bishop and President of the House of Deputies to appoint a task force for the next Triennium of twelve people, consisting of theologians, constitutional law experts, litigators, legislative procedure experts, leaders and representatives from civil rights organizations, returning citizens, and criminal justice scholars knowledgeable of the history, content and lingering effects of Transatlantic slavery; and be it further

Resolved, That the task force develop strategies to remove the loophole language of Amendment XIII to the U.S. Constitution authorizing legal slavery past 1865; that reads, “Neither slavery nor indentured 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…”; and be it further

Resolved, That the task force work with the Episcopal Church Office of Government Relations to collaborate with the Episcopal ecumenical/interfaith partners to support efforts in offering new constitutional language ending slavery ‘without exception’; and be it further

Resolved, That the General Convention request the Joint Standing Committee on Program, Budget and Finance to consider a budget allocation of $30,000 for the implementation of this resolution.

Citation: General Convention, Journal of the General Convention of...The Episcopal Church, Austin, 2018 (New York: General Convention, 2018), p. 695.