Lawmakers Target Slavery Clause in Minnesota Constitution

ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) -- Minnesota lawmakers have launched a drive to remove a clause allowing slavery and involuntary servitude as punishment for crimes from the state constitution.

St. Paul Police Chief Todd Axtell made it his new year's resolution to get it deleted. He found a sympathetic ear in state Rep. John Lesch. The St. Paul Democrat will get a hearing Tuesday on his proposal to ask voters in November to remove the offending language from the constitution.

Colorado voters removed similar language from their constitution in 2018. Similar measures will be on the ballot in Utah and Nebraska in November.