LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) -- A Kentucky lawmaker has proposed a bill to remove a slavery exception from the state's constitution. 

Section 25 of the Kentucky Constitution reads "Slavery and involuntary servitude in this State are forbidden, except as a punishment for crime, whereof the party shall have been duly convicted.” The language from Kentucky's constitution comes from the 13th Amendment of the U.S. Constitution, which also allows for slavery as punishment for a crime. 

House Bill 121, a proposed constitution amendment, would remove the portion that reads. "except as a punishment for crime, whereof the party shall have been duly convicted.”

"Slavery was an abominable institution. And we are still enslaving people in the year 2025, and that is something that should not happen," said State Rep. George Brown Jr., D-Lexington, the bill's sponsor.

Brown was joined with Patricia Gailey with Abolish Slavery Kentucky and Savvy Shabazz, president of "All of Us or None," Louisville chapter.

"It serves as a stark reminder of a dark chapter in our nation’s history when the fundamental rights of certain individuals were systematically denied based on race," Shabazz said. "While slavery may have been abolished long ago, its lingering presence in our constitution symbolizes a persistent inequality that cannot be ignored.”

Shabazz, who was formerly incarcerated, added in terms of helping prisoners re-enter society, the clause needs to be removed. He pointed to receiving $0.63 a day for working on a demolition site while incarcerated as an example. 

If the proposed amendment receives three-fifths approval from House and Senate, it would then go before Kentucky voters during a November election in even-numbered years.

Last year, Brown proposed a similar constitutional amendment, but it was not picked up in committee and died.

To read House Bill 121, click here. 

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