California Gov. Gavin Newsom strongly opposed Proposition 36. He claims it will bring California back to the 1980s when mass incarceration was rife. In recent years, the state has been more aggressive in cracking down on organized retail crime, but Californians are clearly demanding swifter change.

People who are incarcerated are often paid less than $1 an hour to fight fires, clean cells and do landscaping work at cemeteries.

The measure would have amended the state’s constitution to repeal language that allows involuntary servitude as a form of criminal punishment.

California voters rejected the Proposition 6 ballot measure that would have outlawed forced prison labor, a direct continuation of chattel enslavement.