Abolish Gang Statutes With the Power of the Thirteenth Amendment: Reparations for the People

Abstract

The abolitionist movement seeks to fundamentally dismantle the prison industrial complex. Modern abolitionists recognize that mass incarceration of Black and Brown people is twenty-first century slavery. True abolition, they note, cannot be realized by merely tinkering with the carceral state. Instead, the complete elimination of modern-day badges and incidents of slavery must occur. The U.S. Supreme Court has held that § 2 of the Thirteenth Amendment grants the U.S. Congress the power to pass legislation to eradicate any "badges and incidents" of slavery. By passing federal antigang legislation and failing to outlaw similar state statutes, which are modern badges of slavery themselves, Congress abdicates its duty to enforce the Thirteenth Amendment. The Reconstruction Amendments' legislative history suggest that in the absence of Congressional action, federal courts are the last resort for striking down state laws that perpetuate the institutions of slavery and white supremacy. Thus, this Article calls upon the United States Supreme Court to exercise its duty and join the abolitionist movement to target antigang statutes as but one institutional legacy of slavery that must be toppled.