In the System

It’s no secret that once you have a felony conviction on your record – well after you have “paid your debt to society” – your life is permanently changed. Basically, for most that “debt” is never paid. “The dire consequences of a felony conviction last far longer than the years spent in prison followed by more time on parole. In addition to those direct punishments, offenders are denied licenses for many jobs, often lose their right to vote, and cannot possess guns.

“They are frequently denied parental rights, driver's licenses, student loans, and residency in public housing. Sex offenders are required to register with the local police and are often banned from many urban areas. These losses are called ‘collateral consequences.’…

“The headline of an article published by the Journal of the American Bar Association sums up the barriers confronting ex-prisoners today, ‘Ex-offenders face tens of thousands of legal restrictions, bias and limits on their rights.’ Some experts estimate that today's ex-prisoners could face up to 50,000 legally-mandated collateral consequences, including restrictions on housing, employment, public benefits, and immigration.

“‘People coming out of prison have a large number of things they're already facing: stigma, spotty work history, low education levels, issues around substance abuse and mental health,’ says Jesse Jannetta, a senior research associate at the Urban Institute in Washington, D.C. ‘Collateral consequences can create a practical barrier that can make the already difficult situation of community integration more difficult.’” PrisonFellowship.org. Some call the effects “civil death.”

For the families of felons, who already suffered the consequences of losing breadwinner or loving father/partner/friend during incarceration, the years following imprisonment continue to impose more pain… assuming that family units even stay together. Spousal and child support can go from nothing to exceptionally minimal. Society picks up some of the slack in welfare payments and food stamps, but too many wives and children fold into a lifetime of substance abuse (escape from the pain of their lives), underachievement, low or no expectations… and often themselves forced into criminality simply to make ends meet. Social mobility is hard enough these days, but for too many in this world, they are trapped, helpless and hopeless.

Ex-felons are usually relegated to the lowest rungs on the job ladder, assuming that they can find any employment at all. Background checks, enhanced by easy online access to even the most private information, make lying on a resume or a job application a thing of the past. If an employer cares enough, and most do these day, your past is glaringly easy to discover. Lie and you either do not get the job or are fired when the truth is found. Tell the truth and except for pretty terribly-paying work, and you probably do not get the job. Catch-22.

So when we convict someone of a felony, sometimes even a serious misdemeanor, we are actually creating a rather dramatic long-term problem for ourselves. And how we love to put people in prisons and treat them harshly – prisons are the finest institutions of higher learning for criminals everywhere: with 5% of the world’s population, we account for a quarter of its incarcerated criminals. For those who are eventually released, they come out angry, better-trained to commit more crimes and face a lifetime of second rate treatment, jobs, etc. Many return to crime.

“According to an April 2011 report by the Pew Center on the States, the average national recidivism rate for released prisoners is 43%... According to the National Institute of Justice, about 68 percent of 405,000 prisoners released in 30 states in 2005 were arrested for a new crime within three years of their release from prison, and 77 percent were arrested within five years.” Wikipedia.

In short, our entire criminal justice system is an utter failure. Narcotics offenses – including addicts committing crime to pay for drugs – are the greatest segment of felony convictions, but rehab is elusive for most such offenders. They will join the ranks of the jobless or underemployed even if they never use a drug again. They are, after all, felons, and most felons will life as second rate citizens for the rest of their lives.

California, among several states, is beginning to take steps that might help to alleviate this vicious cycle: once you are in the “system,” you will never recover into a normal or productive life. “A quartet of California Assembly members urged colleagues… to pass legislation that would prohibit state commissions and agencies from rejecting a professional license for those who were once convicted of less serious crimes.

“‘We can’t say we want to rehabilitate people, and then block them from getting the jobs that they need when they’re released,’ said Assemblyman David Chiu (D-San Francisco). ‘That leads to more recidivism and to more crime.’

“The bills, scheduled to be heard in Assembly committees… would ban the use of arrest or conviction records as the reason for denying a professional license. The bill would not apply to Californians who served time for any of the offenses on the state’s list of violent crimes.

“The authors, including fellow Democrats Chris Holden of Pasadena and Evan Low of Campbell, said that a government-issued professional license is required for some 30% of all jobs in the state. Their bills would change the licensing process at the California departments of Consumer Affairs and Social Services and agencies that certify emergency medical technicians.

“The bills would block prior convictions from leading to the delay or denial of a license unless that crime is ‘directly related’ to the profession the person intends to pursue. Two of the bills also specifically say convictions less than 5 years old could continue to play a role in licensing decisions.”

“Last year, Gov. Jerry Brown signed a law that keeps private-sector employers from inquiring about a job applicant’s conviction history before an offer of employment.

“Advocates who came to Sacramento said limits on awarding licenses should focus only on those whose prior criminal activity could pose a threat to consumers.” Los Angeles Times, April 24^th. Will these bills pass? Maybe, but this is the tip of the iceberg of what we need to stop the horrific and socially expensive costs of putting people “in the system.”

I’m Peter Dekom, and our criminal justice policies have not worked for decades; it’s time for a ground-up change.