Fugitive Slave Clause - Mootness

Mootness

In 1864, during the Civil War, an effort to repeal this clause of the Constitution failed. Subsequent passage of the Thirteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution banned slavery, and thus made the clause mostly moot. However, it has been noted in connection with the Fugitive Slave Clause that people can still be held to service or labor under limited circumstances; the U.S. Supreme Court stated in United States v. Kozminski, 487 U.S. 931, 943 (1988) that "not all situations in which labor is compelled by physical coercion or force of law violate the Thirteenth Amendment.”