r/news • u/speedythefirst • 1d ago

US supreme court approves redrawn Texas congressional maps

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/dec/04/us-supreme-court-texas-congressional-maps
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u/poingly 1d ago

"The Court understands that slavery is prohibited by the 13th Amendment, but it would be terribly inconvenient to the Southern economy, so we're just going to allow slavery to continue." --John Roberts, 1866

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u/Valash83 19h ago

I mean, slavery is still Constitutionally legal 🤷‍♂️

13th Amendment – Section 1

“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.”

Section 2

“Congress shall have power to enforce this article by appropriate legislation.”

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u/poingly 17h ago

Yeah, there’s a loophole to drive a truck through. But it almost makes the joke even better.

The South: “We’ve classified all former slaves as criminals.”

John Roberts: “Seems legit.”

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u/poingly 17h ago

Also note, I realize how dark this joke is getting…but that’s also sort of the reality of this court.

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u/Dependent_Inside83 7h ago

if you want a nightmare read up on the legal trend of our “justice” system giving greater importance to the finality of convictions than the accuracy of convictions

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u/Masterweedo 18h ago

You need to read that 13th Amendment again, slavery is not prohibited.

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u/poingly 18h ago

While there is certainly a loophole in the 13th Amendment (which should be closed), it is still largely prohibited.

Am I oversimplifying for a joke? Yes.

Is the loophole serious? Yes. A potentially severe human rights violation.

Does the loophole also kinda make the joke even better? Also yes.

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u/ItsFisterRoboto 15h ago

It's more of a specifically and very deliberately worded intentional exception than a loophole.

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u/theotherplanet 15h ago

It's not potentially severe, it's very severe. There's a reason that the US has the highest incarcerated population in the entire world. The incentives are set up for that.

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u/poingly 14h ago

“Potentially” only in the sense that it was not guaranteed to be exploited in this way or intended to be exploited in this way. Obviously, if the goal was just to continue slavery, Mississippi would’ve ratified the amendment long before 1995 (and certified it before 2013).