A panel of Utah senators on Monday agreed that the state constitution’s language on slavery has an inappropriate loophole for criminal convicts.
The state’s guiding document currently says that slavery and involuntary servitude are prohibited, “except as a punishment for a crime.” But Utah Rep. Sandra Hollins says slavery should be forbidden under all circumstances and is pushing to delete the exception language.
The loophole, which mirrors language in the U.S. Constitution, “no longer reflects who we are as Utahns,” she said Monday.
Her resolution to remove the wording already passed the House, and the Senate Business and Labor Committee unanimously gave it a favorable recommendation on Monday.