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The U.S.Constitution's exception for slavery faces renewed battle from lawmakers ahead of Juneteenth. Three legislators are working to abolish the so-called slavery loophole in the U.S. Constitution ahead of Juneteenth, which marks the day in 1865 when the last enslaved African Americans learned they were free. As it stands, the Constitution states: “Neither slavery nor involuntary 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.” The Democratic legislators – Rep. Nikema Williams, D-Ga., Sen. Cory Booker, D-N.J., and Sen. Jeff Merkley, D-Ore. – want to strike it from the record, introducing the "Abolition Amendment" late Wednesday to negate the exception. According to the Bianca Tylek, a criminal justice advocate working in tandem with legislators, the amendment is about ending the system and to "re-affirm the dignity and humanity" of ...

An increasingly unpopular effort by a group of Ohio Republicans to make it harder to change the state constitution by direct voting faces a critical juncture this week COLUMBUS, Ohio -- An effort by a Republican faction in Ohio to make it harder to change the state constitution faces a critical juncture this week, with action needed in the politically fractured Ohio House where the undertaking has so far stalled. Wednesday is the last day to get the job done if lawmakers mean to put a related ballot measure before voters on Aug. 8, according to the timeline determined by Republican Secretary of State Frank LaRose, the state’s elections chief. However, scenarios could emerge among the plan's anxious GOP backers to blow past the cutoff without the plan's proponents relenting. The conflict comes amid similar Republican efforts to restrict direct democracy in Missouri, North Dakota and Mississippi, according to Fairness Project, a Washington-based group that pushes ballot measur...