Opinion ID: 533854
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Thirteenth Amendment Violations

Text: 31 The Thirteenth Amendment forbids slavery or involuntary servitude. The amendment also gives Congress the authority to enforce the prohibition by appropriate legislation. Part of this authority is the authority to legislate to eradicate badges and incidents of slavery. Jones v. Alfred H. Mayer Co., 392 U.S. 409, 440, 88 S.Ct. 2186, 2203, 20 L.Ed.2d 1189 (1968); Holmes, 407 F.Supp. at 498. The NAACP's sole argument in support of its claim that the state has violated the Thirteenth Amendment is that the confederate flag, because of its inspirational power in the confederate army during the Civil War and its adoption by the Ku Klux Klan, is a badge and vestige of slavery. Standing alone, the Thirteenth Amendment does not forbid the badges and incidents of slavery. Congress has not utilized its Thirteenth Amendment enforcement authority to pass legislation forbidding the flying of the confederate flag as a badge or incident of slavery. Because the flying of the confederate flag is not forbidden by federal statute, summary judgment was properly granted. Celotex, 477 U.S. at 323, 106 S.Ct. at 2552.