Congress may legislate against slavery’s badges and incidents under the Thirteenth Amendment

Evidence

The foundation for my argument can be found in the 1968 Supreme Court opinion in Jones v. Alfred Mayer, where the Court stated, “Surely Congress has the power under the Thirteenth Amendment rationally to determine what are the badges and the incidents of slavery, and the authority to translate that determination into effective legislation.” — Dorothy A. Brown, Getting to Reparations, 578

Categorization

• DEFINE: The controlling legal criterion: Congress’s power extends to whatever it rationally determines to be a badge or incident of slavery.