WASHINGTON, D.C. — Today, the Subcommittee on Crime and Federal Government Surveillance of the U.S. House Judiciary Committee held a hearing on "Overreach: An Examination of Federal Statutory and Regulatory Crimes” (video). Worth Rises Executive Director Bianca Tylek testified on the impact that federal overcriminalization has on the American people, both directly and through its influence on state policy. Her remarks touched on the disproportionate impact overcriminalization has on Black, brown, and low-income people, the role of the prison industry in overcriminalization, and its relation to the exception in the Thirteenth Amendment—raising questions from several Congressmembers. She called Congress to take decisive action to end the profit motive behind overcriminalization, starting with passing the Abolition Amendment to end the exception and abolish prison slavery.
“Core to the overcriminalization crisis is that even committing a minor offense can impart a lifetime of negative consequences. A simple arrest can lead to job loss, while a criminal conviction and, worse yet, incarceration can threaten the financial stability and economic mobility of the person convicted and their family for years—even generations—to follow,” Tylek explained. “Overcriminalization dramatically hinders public safety by exacerbating the social conditions that lead to crime in the first place. But in doing so, it lines the pockets of the $80-billion niche prison industry with a deep financial interest in the overcriminalization of Americans. In fact, major players in the prison industry have plainly stated that declining crime rates, which improve our safety, hurt their business. An industry so offensive that it cannot advertise, uses public fearmongering to hide their interests and boost their business. A huge reason for overcriminalization, the prison industry is an impediment to passing smart policies that promote safety, freedom, and justice, and we must put an end to it.”
Tylek continued, “I would be remiss not to mention that the roots of overcriminalization, and the prison industry, date back to the exception in the Thirteenth Amendment, which gave way for the passage of Black Codes during the Reconstruction Era that applied only to newly freed Black people and criminalized minor offenses like vagrancy to feed the brutal practice of “convict leasing,” by which states leased incarcerated people to private businesses. More than a century later, slavery is still legal as criminal punishment, and we are still overcriminalizing minor offenses with a disproportionate impact on Black people.” Tylek closed with a call for Congress to immediately take action to end the exception in the Thirteenth Amendment, among other recommendations.
The issue was almost immediately challenged by Congressmember Thomas Tiffany, who asked Tylek, “Are you saying that slavery still exists in America?” Watch Tylek’s response here and read her full testimony here.
Under Tylek’s leadership, Worth Rises leads the #EndTheException campaign—supported by over 90 national organizations—to end the exception in the Thirteenth Amendment that still allows slavery as criminal punishment. The campaign advocates for the passage of the bipartisan Abolition Amendment (HJR 72 | SJR 33).
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Worth Rises is a non-profit advocacy organization dedicated to dismantling the prison industry and ending the exploitation of those it targets. Follow @WorthRises on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook.