More than 150 years have passed since USA officially abolish the slavery. But that same Thirteenth Amendment that ended the sale of human beings, also specifies that both slavery and involuntary servitude can be kept as “punishment” for duly convicted prisoners. And oddly enough, that language is not only still in force in the Constitutions of 19 states, but it is a reality for hundreds of thousands of american prisonersforced to work for free in prisons or in exchange for insignificant payments. These prisoners pick cotton or alfalfa from sunrise to sunset in the prisons of the south or produce goods and services for public administrations, an industry that moves 11,000 million dollars every year.
That explains why five states will decide this Tuesday if they want to completely remove slavery from their Magna Cartas, an issue that has become topical since Colorado took the first step in 2016 by submitting the issue to referendum. The forced labor in prisons will be one of the issues raised in the 132 referendums and popular initiatives that await American voters in 37 states. A priori plebiscites less important than the renewal of the federal Congress or the legislatures in more than thirty states, but which could serve to amend state law on issues as crucial as the abortionthe minimum salarytaxes, marijuana, gambling, or election monitoring.
The abortion It is one of the highlights of these elections, months after the Supreme Court ended with a stroke of the pen more than half a century of federal protection for the voluntary interruption of pregnancy. Which has meant that one in four Americans of reproductive age now live in states where abortion is illegal or severely restricted. That is precisely what you want to avoid. California, Vermont Y Michiganwhere they will vote to protect the right to abortion in state regulations, while Mountain Y Kentucky propose new measures to restrict it.
legal marijuana
Less controversial has become marijuana legalization, which continues to advance throughout the country. The medical cannabis is legal in 37 states, while another 19 have decriminalized its use. recreational uses. The bulk of the population is for the work. According to a Gallup poll from last year, 68% of Americans favor legalization. And this Tuesday another five states could lift the ban. Maryland it is the only one controlled by the Democrats; the other four are Republicans (Arkansas, Missouri and the two dakota), a complete example of how the liberalization of cannabis has become a bipartisan issue.
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More delicate is the proposal for decriminalize psychedelic drugs for medicinal use in Colorado, which could follow in the wake of Oregon as the second state to authorize the active ingredients of so-called hallucinogenic mushrooms wave mescaline to treat disorders such as posttraumatic stress.
Another important front in democracy directly from these elections is the taxation. both in Massachusetts like California will vote to raise state taxes on highest rents who, in this second state, would dedicate themselves to fighting against the climate change with subsidies for electric cars or fire prevention. At the other extreme, Colorado will speak out to lower the tax rate. In Nebraska, Nevada and Washington DC the minimum salary will also be at the polls. In the first of them, it could go from the current 9 dollars per hour to 15 dollars.