I Think the whole Idea of dropping the record for someone who has proven they will not recidivate and are continued contributors to society is a great idea. Many ex-cons cannot land jobs because they cannot pass a background check because of something they did ten years ago when they were nineteen and stupid. These things lead to recidivism, what do these people turn to when they cannot land a decent paying job, yes, what they know which is crime. They may not want to be committing crimes, but they may have to just to survive because they have a record. Once a person has paid for their actions should they really have to pa for those actions for the rest of their life in the labor force too? Having the ability to drop the priors off a person’s record opens a world of opportunity for some. Maybe they already had a degree before they committed their crime but with that crime on their record that degree means nothing. I support what California is trying to do in the criminal justice system. – RickyBobby711
I believe that dropping the records of inmates after a period of time and soon after they do the time for their crime that it should be erased. Now obviously this goes for people who committed the minor crimes like drugs or drinking, just small stuff like that. If you do the time and want to turn your life around from what you were in the past, that can be very difficult with a bad record. Most people do not want to be in prison, prison is hard on people mentally and physically. Programs like the one mentioned in the article need to be out there to help inmates after they have either paid their fines or done their time in prison. It would save us money in the long run and help turn the lives around of post- inmates. Now inmates who have committed serious crimes like murder, do not deserve this second chance but rather institutions inside the prison to help them. That also goes for inmates with minor offenses, they should be able to receive help in prison so they are able to live a normal life outside of prison, and hold a normal job so they do not have to resort to crime that got them locked up in the first place. A bad record is more than likely going to ruin a person’s chances at getting a job. When that happens they are going to give up and revert back to drug dealing, when they could have gotten a little help with their record, or they even could have gotten help inside of prison. I also believe that the Government should be the initiator of these programs, yes the community can help but it should not be all up to them to come up with these plans to help inmates. -crispychicken711
I found this article to be true, it says Nearly 80 percent of Californians with even low-level criminal records struggle to find a job, locate housing or achieve other hallmarks of success despite having paid their full debt to society, according to a sweeping new report published Thursday. It sucks that people can’t get jobs when they get out of jail because of their record. That means that they are actually trying to change their life. Not getting a job will make them go back to their old ways which will have them go back to jail. It mentions that when the lady put in her app and went through two sets of applications and still didn’t get the job because they put it in the rejection side of the desk. Jobs today are really picky about who they hire. You have to have some type of education or their requirements. But the first thing they are going to look at is a person criminal record, I know this because I have seen it happen at my job before. They don’t even look at your name half of the time they go straight to that second page. Jobs need to start giving people second chances when it comes to life. Yes, they may have made a mistake but everyone does in life and they live okay after a while. They are sending a sign just putting apps into jobs. If they don’t get any help it can be worse they before they went in because half of the time family don’t even care about the criminal. We have to do better! -babyblue711
I was surprised when it said that eighty percent of Californians will low level crimes have a hard time finding a job. Low level crimes aren't very big and I feel like that should not affect their chances of getting a job. There are people that served their time and they go back out to the community and they have a hard time achieving basic things like getting a job or a place to live. “I’m just happy to be out in the free world, but nobody explained to me that unless you are a really strong person, a lot of people give up.” This was said by Walker who is in charge of an organization that helps people that we previously incarcerated people get back into the community. Some people who get out of jail or prison are really happy to be out and that is a motivation for them to stay of jail or prison but when you have no help or guidance to help you get back in the community, it can make things really difficult and they can have a higher chance or ending back up in jail or prison. Some people get rejected from fast food places, how can this get any more difficult? I feel like people with low level offenses should not be rejected from fast food places. They are trying to re enter society by getting a job that they might not even want to do but the point is that they’re trying. When people commit crimes there are punishments but I think preventing people from getting jobs for low level offenses is something that should stop. I support California in getting away from long-standing tough-on-crime policies. I think it will give people a better chance of having a better life. There are some people that know that they did wrong and they are trying to get their life back. Rejecting them from jobs is not gonna make things any better and it's definitely not gonna help them stay out of prison. -Soccer31711
Many people that have a low crime record still have a hard time trying to find a job. Most people believe that if someone has offended that they will do it again or even something worse in the long run. Some people believe that if they have low records they should be able to clear their criminal record. Most people made the silly mistake when they were eighteen years old, or it was one night and they made one wrong mistake that will affect them the rest of their life. Yet, now they are unable to get a job or even a housing residence to live in. Putting people away for small crimes results in mass incarceration and overcrowding in prisons. This then leads to issues with taxes being high because of the high imprisonment and the high number of people being incarcerated. Then when they do end up getting out they have nowhere to go because they have lost everything. There is also not enough programs and facilities to help past offenders get back up on their feet to start making good decisions in order to be successful. If there were more programs and facilities then it would cause less people to end up back in prison because they would have a place to live, multiple meals, and healthcare in order to survive. They help past offenders find a steady job. Most programs follow up on the past offender to ensure that they are showing up to their jobs and making an effort to change their life around. These programs and facilities will help the crime records go down even more than what they are. Many states are taking less criminal charges and making them legal to decrease the crime rate and to reduce the imprisonment rate. For example, many states have started to decriminalize marijuana and it has decreased the imprisonment rate. Letting people slowly have all their rights back after committing a crime needs to be done carefully but definitely needs to be looked into to help overcrowded prisons. ProbdrinkingStar$’s711
Nearly 80% of Californians with even low level criminal records struggle to find a job. About 8 million Californians or 1 in 5 people throughout the state have records regarding criminal history. I think this number is kind of intense. But I also understand that some of these people made a mistake or wrong place wrong time at a younger age and it now follows them pretty much until the day they die. "Repairing the Road to Redemption in California" argues that more work needs to be done to help shepherd people back into normal lives after they have done their time. I think people who truly want the help and want to better themselves deserve this but not everyone should just get the extra push. Second chances program director Jordan who is now 33 years old had said in the article that when he was 19 he had been convicted of robbery. He said he never knew about the collateral consequences when he accepted the plea agreement. "When I signed my deal, I was a dumb kid... I did not know I could never adopt or never coach my son's little league team". I think this is pretty disheartening but it is not something many think about. It is sad to say it, but it is a consequence that you will have to live out forever. That is why growing up I always stressed on my own and my parents did to me as well to know that no matter what I do teenage and up it will follow whether you think it will or it wont. Researchers surveyed more than 2,000 people with criminal records ranging from minor drug busts to more serious crimes like robbery and found that 5 in 10 had difficulty obtaining occupational licenses. I hope that something can be figured out and those who are deserving of the help do get it. -notacop711
This article starts off by saying that “Nearly 80 percent of Californians with even low-level criminal records struggle to find a job, locate housing or achieve other hallmarks of success despite having paid their full debt to society, according to a sweeping new report published Thursday.” It then goes on to say that “About 8 million Californians, or 1 in 5 people throughout the state, have such records — and they’re subject to thousands of restrictions, large and small, imposed on freed people with a criminal history…” To me, this is an epidemic, as the article refers to it as such. Sure, some people truly deserve to carry their horrendous, heinous crimes around with them of the rest of their lives, but those with non-violent crimes who have served their time, payed their debt, and yet, still carry that conviction around with them on their record- those are the people I’m concerned about. Do those individuals truly deserve to have the large majority of employment opportunities and housing availabilities rejected to them because of a mistake they made years ago? I believe there should be such a thing as dropping a criminal record after so many years of being an upstanding citizen without committing any crimes. These crimes shouldn’t follow people around for the entirety of their lives, and there absolutely needs to be more rehabilitation programs offered to people who are currently suffering from problems like this. Without rehab programs or criminal record drop offs, how do we honestly expect previously incarcerated individuals to not reoffend? This is an absolutely huge reason our reoffending rates are so high here in the United States, all across the country. If changes aren’t made and implemented, our prison population is going to continue to grow, our recidivating rates will never drop, and our formerly incarcerated will never stand a chance. GMan219711
The article says “Nearly 80 percent of Californians with even low-level criminal records struggle to find a job, locate housing or achieve other hallmarks of success despite having paid their full debt to society.” This is a very high percent. I do not think it is fair for people who did something when they were 17-18 which also is when your not fully mature yet and you do stupid things but the records follow you your whole life. Which means you can not get a job, house or even able to see your children. If you can't do any of this you will probably end up back in the streets where you started or back in jail. Then the cycle keeps going of you being in and out of jail which is not good. But then again some people have no choice because they have no one to help them survive in the real world. Also someone people want to change their life around and not be a criminal anymore. For example, in Intro to Corrections we had a guest speaker who was into drugs at 15 years old and was in and out of jail but now he has been sober for many year, has a family of his own and has a really good job with the peoria police department. This shows how someone may be committing crimes and in the streets but also how they change their life around. The lady in the article says when she applied to jobs they put her application in the rejection side of the desk. This shows how they just looked at her criminal records and saw what she did when she was younger and just said no. Most jobs today do not check your name or anything they just go straight to see if you have any criminal records. Jobs today are so picky and choosy for what they in a worker. Usually you have to have something they require or a high education. They should start looking into people and giving them a chance. -ny711
This is an eye opening article, 80 percent of Californians with low level criminal records cant find a job or housing even though they have paid their debt to society. These people have atoned for their wrong doings by having their freedom taken away. These people are still paying for their mistakes even though they have tried to turn their lives around. Tamisha Walker was convicted for arson which is a felony, she severed her time but just because she has a felony, businesses do not want to hire her. Even fast food places such as McDonalds do not want her. I understand that they are looking out for their business well-being and trying to keep everyone safe but Tamisha has served her time and probable does not want to go back to jail. Another example of a person being punished after they have paid you debts to society is Jordan. Jordan committed a robbery at the age of 19, he is still being punished at the age of 33. Some of the restrictions is that he cannot adopt, he cant coach his kids little league team, and he cannot get a real estate license. He did a stupid thing at a young age and the consequences for his actions still are felt 14 years later. I am not saying that these people should not be restricted after they have served their time for a felony, but to be ousted like they have leprosy should stop. Like I said just because they served their time doesn’t mean they shouldn’t have any restrictions in place, They should have some restrictions, like the restriction that a felon cannot own a gun. But to restrict someone from coaching their sons little league team because they committed a felony such as robbery 14 years ago does not need to be a restriction. ClarkKent711
Wow. I can't believe that 80% of people in California that have low-level criminal record still get judged by what they did in their past. I do agree that "People shouldn't be held accountable", said Jordan who is the director of the Second Chances Program. but they shouldn't be restricted because of a mistake they made in their life. California started changing the way they handle crimes such as decriminalize marijuana and make certain felonies to misdemeanors, I am happy about this because nobody has ever died to a marijuana OD because the worst it will do is make you eat a lot... I'm not saying I support someone who is addicted to drugs and they do others besides marijuana but marijuana has positive effects on the community and we could use it as well to make paper and use it as medication. I am a strong believer that people who just get out of prison is critical because when someone comes out of prison generally they don't have a family, a home, money, etc. so when someone is released if nobody steps up they generally end up doing the crime to provide for themselves and generally go back to prison. In reality the reason why most people were convicted of a crime end up homeless after prison because people in our society look down on these people when they did their time already and yes they should have been punished in some way shape or form but some people really do want help and really do want to change but when they go to apply to places and they get denied because of their history, its really sad because some people really want to join back to society. This article really was an interesting one because people who come back generally do get treated like crap but I do not condone people such as rapist coming back into society but people do deserve a second chance, if they mess up that second chance then I don't know. -z33 711
Approximately eighty percent of the people who live in California have a criminal record and struggle to find good jobs. To me this number isn’t very surprising. Many employers are cautious when hiring, especially those who have a prior criminal record. It is understandable; however, it can be very disheartening. These people have served their time, should the crime still be on the record? It’s a double hitter, time in prison and the crime still remains on recorded, which makes it quite challenging to be employed. It is a sad system. One in five people in the state of California have a criminal record. That ratio is serious, and should not be taken lightly. There is a huge number of people who have broken the law in some way and have gotten caught. With this drastic amount, California have passed laws in hopes of reducing the prison population. They decriminalized marijuana and changed certain felonies into misdemeanors. The hope is to reduce the population in prisons. California is one of the first states to take this approach on crime. They are moving away for long term sentencing. I think this is the correct approach to crime. Long term sentencing is not the answer. People change with time and as they get older. It’s hard to punish an “old person” for something they did as a “young person”. Plus, the longer in prison the harder it is to come back out into society as a productive member. I think if California is finding success with this approach of less long-term sentencing and readdressing certain felonies than the rest of the country should consider applying it into their criminal justice sentencing protocols. I think California is ahead of the rest of our country with its profound idea of reducing the mass incarceration catastrophe. If this theory was applied to all the states we would see a significant decrease in mass incarceration within our country. ~CoalRoller711
I think that it is a great idea to drop someone’s criminal record. Also doing this could reduce the prison population. If someone cannot get a job because they were in prison, then they are more likely to reoffend and go back to prison. Nearly 80 percent of Californians with low level criminal records struggle to find a job, locate housing, or achieve other successes even though they paid their debt to society. About 1 in every 5 people throughout the state of California has these records. They are subject to restrictions, both that are large and small, imposed on people with a criminal history. I also like that California is stepping away from national long-standing, tough-on-crime policies. The tough on crime policies resulted in mass incarceration around the country, which cost millions, maybe even billions, of dollars. In recent years California has embraced several reform efforts, enacting laws to reduce its prison population. Also California has decriminalized marijuana and reduced certain felonies to misdemeanors. In this article, they talk about a different article that argued that more work needs to be done to help shepherd people back into their normal lives after they have either done their time or paid their fines. Also they argued that barring people from re-entering society could force them to fall back into their old bad habits and landing them back in prison. Which I have to agree with as well. People need to be ready to reenter society. Other people have argued that California’s new progressive trend has already gone too far with this new reform. The legal director at the Criminal Justice Legal Foundation, says he agrees that tweaks need to be made to a person’s criminal record, but in many areas of criminal law recently, people have been using chain saws where they should be using pruning shears, he said. For many people, this could be a good thing. Many people cannot do a lot of things, examples such as adopt a child, cannot become a dog walker, bingo caller, or get either a barbering license or real estate license. I hope that this law goes through because this could do a lot of good for people who made a mistake. –Adventureflight711
I found this article interesting because as I read the article I never thought about how many people are affected by their criminal record. “Nearly 80 percent of Californians with even low-level criminal records struggle to find a job, locate housing or achieve other hallmarks of success despite having paid their full debt to society I thought it was crazy to read the statistics on how many people are affected because they can’t find a job or a place to stay.” Also A’bout 8 million Californians, or 1 in 5 people throughout the state, have such records — and they’re subject to thousands of restrictions, large and small, imposed on freed people with a criminal history, the report says.” But also how do you expect them to not reoffend it they can’t get a job then they don’t have any money so they might just go back to they know. Also if they can’t get a place to stay then they can end up on the streets and then they won’t be able to keep a job if they have one. They are trying to change their lives and get jobs and be a better part of society but then they just keep getting denied by these job and it makes it ten times harder for then to redeem themselves and they also have to pay their fines and fees. Also making it difficult to get their kids back and be a part of their lives. I don’t think that someone in their 30’s show have to suffer and pay for the actions that they did are let’s say 18 or 19. I think and hope that they would have learned their lesson and matured a little bit. - mmmchicken711
The idea of this is to give convicted felon’s a chance to make thing right in their life. We have this stigma that, all convicted felons once done with they crime are still the same person that they were before they got incarcerated and committing crime. Prison is filled with a lot of people who aren’t even dangerous to the society we live in but still get stigmatized as heinous to society. Yes people make mistakes but we are human not everybody is perfect, a lot of people make mistakes trying to what’s best for their family, so why if they do the time for the crime in which they have committed, and have showed that they are ready to be apart of the hardworking society why do they have to bare that on their back that don’t do anything but contradict all of the progress in which he or she has shown. I genuinely believe that a lot of people who gets incarcerated should get a second chance at life and just the basic or poverty part of life, more of the “USA DREAM” kind of life if they are willing and determined to work for it the legitimate way. Most of the people who gets incarcerated come realizing they 1. They don’t want to go back ever and 2. That what they did was wrong so why if a person who was convicted of a crime and served its time 35 years later done changed his life around and everything still carrying that weight of being a “felon”, to me they are just like me and you and should be looked upon as such. I believe that California is heading in the right direction with scratching away from a person being a convicted years later after he was convicted and agree that all states should act upon on such cause at the end of the day a human can correct a mistake if given the opportunity to. Statechamp711
Eighty percent of California's low level income population struggles to find a job! That's literally insane considering the fact that they are one of the largest states in America. I think something is seriously wrong if that many people are struggling to find a job. The fact that there are so many restrictions preventing them from finding a job actually kind of makes me angry, give these people a chance who cares if they got arrested at 18 for some weed, people change. It is good that they are stepping away from tough crime policies but there is still some serious problems that needs to be fixed. I totally agree that more work needs to be done towards reintegrating people back into society after they have done their time and paid their fines. Clearly the numbers show that not enough work is being done. I think that it is a step in the right direction with proposition 47 was taken away, but all it did was reduce felonies to misdemeanors. I personally do not think that is enough. 80 percent is a really high number, and just reducing some felony charges to misdemeanors will not do the job. I do not think one felony conviction should ruin your chances at getting a job, I think if you have multiple felonies and are a repeat offender then you should have a harder time at getting a job. I think we as America in general should reduce our harsh crime punishment laws. I think it is preventing America in taming this mass incarceration and crime epidemic. Sure I think we have made steps in the right direction, to get rid of this problem, but I don't think we have done enough. The numbers show that we haven't even came close in solving this problem. I-Like-Cereal711
This article did not surprise me when it said how many struggle to find a job,housing or any other task even after serving their time for the crime. It also wasn't surprising to see that we are making reform efforts in recent years, enacting laws to reduce its prison populations, decriminalize marijuana and reduce certain felonies to misdemeanors. I agree that we have to focus on helping them reenter society and keep the on the right tract after they have served time or paid their fine. We should not be making it harder for someone to change their life for the better they should have ever chance a person who hasn't been in prison to get a job because they have served the time that should be punishment enough not to continue making their life difficult by making it hard to get a job find a place to live. It's just not right and not only does this help take down prison population it helps save money. I also like how this article gave examples of people who have struggled like Tamisha Walker, 36, and her arson conviction and how it gave the words that were said in the interview and how they are given false hope just to be turned down immediately just at the sight of the conviction. This article did make it more real by having the personal experience of someone who struggled with the issues. -pizza711
I believe dropping those records that were previously incarcerated is a great idea! Many ex-cons can't move on with their life or find jobs or anything like that because their records still following them and holding them back from trying to do better in life and move on because everywhere they go it’s required a background because of some bad choices they made years back or when they were young. You aren’t the same person you were years ago and in some point in lie you want to start over with a fresh start in life just because you learned from your mistakes and looking at the percent of people that is healed back in life because of their background. There are people that served their time but when they come back out they’re limited to the things they do from work to places to live. Removing someone records once they serve they time is basically give individual a second chance to live life and how to live it since they already know how not to live it.-KenzieLand711
Now I can imagine with how big that California is, that there might be some people that are hurting to find a job with how many people are living there but I would never think of a number quite like eighty percent. Eighty percent of people with records, even low level crime offenders have a hard time finding a job in California. I would expect it to be a little high but not that high. I can see as a business owner that maybe hiring a felon or something would maybe not benefit your business. But low level offenders could be great workers for you and maybe just made a simple mistake that will be behind them forever. I know that there are people that some companies should not hire because of some of the things that they have done, but some people have learned from what they have done and are just trying to make it in life and trying not to struggle for everything that they want to get in their lives. There are a lot of people out there that are in need of second chances. At least the state of California is trying to do something about all of the crime rates and trying to reduce the populations in jails and lowering consequences for things like marijuana and turning some of their felonies into misdemeanors. Something I found that was interesting in the article was where they were talking about other types of things that people can not do. Some of the people convicted of felonies have a hard time not only finding a job but have a hard time getting housing and are unable to adopt kids or coach their children’s little league teams, which is sad if they have really turned their lives around and are trying to better the lives of others. -Steel711
Dropping the records of inmates after a good amount of time is a good idea in my eyes. Now looking at this, even as the article said, obviously this wouldn’t be something good for sex offenders/sexual predators, or murderers. This could be a really good thing for those people that are stepping out into fresh air again. Having just one crime on your record WILL ruin anyone’s chances at finding a job as well as housing. Someone could have been the most perfect person throughout their school years and do one dumb thing, get behind bars for it, and then when they are released are found jobless, helpless, and hopeless thanks to that mark on the record. As we’ve all said several times this year. A person that has gone to prison may not be the same person when they leave. Yes, there are a lot of people in the world that never change BUT there are a lot of people out there that do change. This can be easily seen with their behavior and choices after they get out. After people have done their time or paid their fines AND have shown that they will not go back. Let that be no more drugs, no more petty thefts, etc. As well as they have shown a continuous effort to try to get back on their feet. Not everyone deserves a second chance but a lot of people in the world do. How do we expect the incarceration rates to go down if people keep going back because of a crime on their record. Though some are worse than others, most of these crimes cannot possibly be violent crimes. People need help, most want help, and once that help is received I can guarantee they will return to society as better person and will be able to live steady just as everyone else. -Tanlion_Nala711
I’ve known for a long time our country has an extremely high recidivism rate but in the few weeks I’ve been in this class I’m starting to feel like people are intentionally not doing anything to combat this problem. It’s one thing when they wrote those laws, it could be argued that they didn’t know the effects of the legislation they were passing. But now that we can see them there are still people fighting these changes? Why? Reading about Jordan who was 19 when he was convicted of a robbery can’t be a coach for his sons little league team? He can’t even get a barbers license? Why? Once someone has served their sentence should they not just be a regular member of society? Obviously there are different circumstances for serious crimes, but a robbery committed at 19? I never committed a robbery but I know I wouldn’t feel comfortable if I was permanently judged and punished for the mistakes I made when I was 19. I would support more programs that allowed for peoples records to be hidden after a certain amount of time depending on the severity of the crime. To me it seems that if we are going to allow people to be outside of prison we need to allow them to function outside of prison so that they don’t continually re-offend and just start the cycle over. It seems to the arguments this type of legislation relies more on emotion rather than logic. Like, I think people are more interested in punishment than actually trying to solve the problem. It’d be one thing if punishment has been shown to work and actually be a net benefit to society but clearly our system is set up to just have a cycle of crime and stuff our prisons. Avatar711
I believe that after a certain period of time a person background should go away as long as it is not rape or murder or something down that line. If they went to jail for drugs or even robbery I feel like it should be taking off their record. My brothers are felonies for the most dumbest thing under the sun such as lying about his name. Since he a felony for that petty reason some jobs won't hire him even though it happened years ago. I feel like holding a person background against them is not right considering the fact it make them living a regular life harder considering the fact jobs won't hire them and if jobs won't hire them they gone go to the streets for fast Money then end up going back to jail for another offense like selling drugs when in reality all they were trying to do was make money. This article was really interesting to me though considering the fact I see this in my everyday life with my brothers and too read about it made me realize this is an international problem all over the world. What make things worse is the people who are in jail be happy too hear they are getting out but they don't realize how hard it will be once they get out. When jobs see that you have a felony charge they just put your application to the side no matter if you got that charge 10 years ago or not. People turn there nose up to people with a bad background when whole time they can work as good as the net person they just made a bad decision some way down the line. Many places around the world are getting rid of non violent charges on people background in hope that they will be able to live a normal life. -Jollyrancher711
I Think the whole Idea of dropping the record for someone who has proven they will not recidivate and are continued contributors to society is a great idea. Many ex-cons cannot land jobs because they cannot pass a background check because of something they did ten years ago when they were nineteen and stupid. These things lead to recidivism, what do these people turn to when they cannot land a decent paying job, yes, what they know which is crime. They may not want to be committing crimes, but they may have to just to survive because they have a record. Once a person has paid for their actions should they really have to pa for those actions for the rest of their life in the labor force too? Having the ability to drop the priors off a person’s record opens a world of opportunity for some. Maybe they already had a degree before they committed their crime but with that crime on their record that degree means nothing. I support what California is trying to do in the criminal justice system. – RickyBobby711
ReplyDeleteI believe that dropping the records of inmates after a period of time and soon after they do the time for their crime that it should be erased. Now obviously this goes for people who committed the minor crimes like drugs or drinking, just small stuff like that. If you do the time and want to turn your life around from what you were in the past, that can be very difficult with a bad record. Most people do not want to be in prison, prison is hard on people mentally and physically. Programs like the one mentioned in the article need to be out there to help inmates after they have either paid their fines or done their time in prison. It would save us money in the long run and help turn the lives around of post- inmates. Now inmates who have committed serious crimes like murder, do not deserve this second chance but rather institutions inside the prison to help them. That also goes for inmates with minor offenses, they should be able to receive help in prison so they are able to live a normal life outside of prison, and hold a normal job so they do not have to resort to crime that got them locked up in the first place. A bad record is more than likely going to ruin a person’s chances at getting a job. When that happens they are going to give up and revert back to drug dealing, when they could have gotten a little help with their record, or they even could have gotten help inside of prison. I also believe that the Government should be the initiator of these programs, yes the community can help but it should not be all up to them to come up with these plans to help inmates. -crispychicken711
ReplyDeleteI found this article to be true, it says Nearly 80 percent of Californians with even low-level criminal records struggle to find a job, locate housing or achieve other hallmarks of success despite having paid their full debt to society, according to a sweeping new report published Thursday. It sucks that people can’t get jobs when they get out of jail because of their record. That means that they are actually trying to change their life. Not getting a job will make them go back to their old ways which will have them go back to jail. It mentions that when the lady put in her app and went through two sets of applications and still didn’t get the job because they put it in the rejection side of the desk. Jobs today are really picky about who they hire. You have to have some type of education or their requirements. But the first thing they are going to look at is a person criminal record, I know this because I have seen it happen at my job before. They don’t even look at your name half of the time they go straight to that second page. Jobs need to start giving people second chances when it comes to life. Yes, they may have made a mistake but everyone does in life and they live okay after a while. They are sending a sign just putting apps into jobs. If they don’t get any help it can be worse they before they went in because half of the time family don’t even care about the criminal. We have to do better! -babyblue711
ReplyDeleteI was surprised when it said that eighty percent of Californians will low level crimes have a hard time finding a job. Low level crimes aren't very big and I feel like that should not affect their chances of getting a job. There are people that served their time and they go back out to the community and they have a hard time achieving basic things like getting a job or a place to live. “I’m just happy to be out in the free world, but nobody explained to me that unless you are a really strong person, a lot of people give up.” This was said by Walker who is in charge of an organization that helps people that we previously incarcerated people get back into the community. Some people who get out of jail or prison are really happy to be out and that is a motivation for them to stay of jail or prison but when you have no help or guidance to help you get back in the community, it can make things really difficult and they can have a higher chance or ending back up in jail or prison. Some people get rejected from fast food places, how can this get any more difficult? I feel like people with low level offenses should not be rejected from fast food places. They are trying to re enter society by getting a job that they might not even want to do but the point is that they’re trying. When people commit crimes there are punishments but I think preventing people from getting jobs for low level offenses is something that should stop. I support California in getting away from long-standing tough-on-crime policies. I think it will give people a better chance of having a better life. There are some people that know that they did wrong and they are trying to get their life back. Rejecting them from jobs is not gonna make things any better and it's definitely not gonna help them stay out of prison. -Soccer31711
ReplyDeleteMany people that have a low crime record still have a hard time trying to find a job. Most people believe that if someone has offended that they will do it again or even something worse in the long run. Some people believe that if they have low records they should be able to clear their criminal record. Most people made the silly mistake when they were eighteen years old, or it was one night and they made one wrong mistake that will affect them the rest of their life. Yet, now they are unable to get a job or even a housing residence to live in. Putting people away for small crimes results in mass incarceration and overcrowding in prisons. This then leads to issues with taxes being high because of the high imprisonment and the high number of people being incarcerated. Then when they do end up getting out they have nowhere to go because they have lost everything. There is also not enough programs and facilities to help past offenders get back up on their feet to start making good decisions in order to be successful. If there were more programs and facilities then it would cause less people to end up back in prison because they would have a place to live, multiple meals, and healthcare in order to survive. They help past offenders find a steady job. Most programs follow up on the past offender to ensure that they are showing up to their jobs and making an effort to change their life around. These programs and facilities will help the crime records go down even more than what they are. Many states are taking less criminal charges and making them legal to decrease the crime rate and to reduce the imprisonment rate. For example, many states have started to decriminalize marijuana and it has decreased the imprisonment rate. Letting people slowly have all their rights back after committing a crime needs to be done carefully but definitely needs to be looked into to help overcrowded prisons. ProbdrinkingStar$’s711
ReplyDeleteNearly 80% of Californians with even low level criminal records struggle to find a job. About 8 million Californians or 1 in 5 people throughout the state have records regarding criminal history. I think this number is kind of intense. But I also understand that some of these people made a mistake or wrong place wrong time at a younger age and it now follows them pretty much until the day they die. "Repairing the Road to Redemption in California" argues that more work needs to be done to help shepherd people back into normal lives after they have done their time. I think people who truly want the help and want to better themselves deserve this but not everyone should just get the extra push. Second chances program director Jordan who is now 33 years old had said in the article that when he was 19 he had been convicted of robbery. He said he never knew about the collateral consequences when he accepted the plea agreement. "When I signed my deal, I was a dumb kid... I did not know I could never adopt or never coach my son's little league team". I think this is pretty disheartening but it is not something many think about. It is sad to say it, but it is a consequence that you will have to live out forever. That is why growing up I always stressed on my own and my parents did to me as well to know that no matter what I do teenage and up it will follow whether you think it will or it wont. Researchers surveyed more than 2,000 people with criminal records ranging from minor drug busts to more serious crimes like robbery and found that 5 in 10 had difficulty obtaining occupational licenses. I hope that something can be figured out and those who are deserving of the help do get it. -notacop711
ReplyDeleteThis article starts off by saying that “Nearly 80 percent of Californians with even low-level criminal records struggle to find a job, locate housing or achieve other hallmarks of success despite having paid their full debt to society, according to a sweeping new report published Thursday.” It then goes on to say that “About 8 million Californians, or 1 in 5 people throughout the state, have such records — and they’re subject to thousands of restrictions, large and small, imposed on freed people with a criminal history…” To me, this is an epidemic, as the article refers to it as such. Sure, some people truly deserve to carry their horrendous, heinous crimes around with them of the rest of their lives, but those with non-violent crimes who have served their time, payed their debt, and yet, still carry that conviction around with them on their record- those are the people I’m concerned about. Do those individuals truly deserve to have the large majority of employment opportunities and housing availabilities rejected to them because of a mistake they made years ago? I believe there should be such a thing as dropping a criminal record after so many years of being an upstanding citizen without committing any crimes. These crimes shouldn’t follow people around for the entirety of their lives, and there absolutely needs to be more rehabilitation programs offered to people who are currently suffering from problems like this. Without rehab programs or criminal record drop offs, how do we honestly expect previously incarcerated individuals to not reoffend? This is an absolutely huge reason our reoffending rates are so high here in the United States, all across the country. If changes aren’t made and implemented, our prison population is going to continue to grow, our recidivating rates will never drop, and our formerly incarcerated will never stand a chance. GMan219711
ReplyDeleteThe article says “Nearly 80 percent of Californians with even low-level criminal records struggle to find a job, locate housing or achieve other hallmarks of success despite having paid their full debt to society.” This is a very high percent. I do not think it is fair for people who did something when they were 17-18 which also is when your not fully mature yet and you do stupid things but the records follow you your whole life. Which means you can not get a job, house or even able to see your children. If you can't do any of this you will probably end up back in the streets where you started or back in jail. Then the cycle keeps going of you being in and out of jail which is not good. But then again some people have no choice because they have no one to help them survive in the real world. Also someone people want to change their life around and not be a criminal anymore. For example, in Intro to Corrections we had a guest speaker who was into drugs at 15 years old and was in and out of jail but now he has been sober for many year, has a family of his own and has a really good job with the peoria police department. This shows how someone may be committing crimes and in the streets but also how they change their life around. The lady in the article says when she applied to jobs they put her application in the rejection side of the desk. This shows how they just looked at her criminal records and saw what she did when she was younger and just said no. Most jobs today do not check your name or anything they just go straight to see if you have any criminal records. Jobs today are so picky and choosy for what they in a worker. Usually you have to have something they require or a high education. They should start looking into people and giving them a chance.
ReplyDelete-ny711
This is an eye opening article, 80 percent of Californians with low level criminal records cant find a job or housing even though they have paid their debt to society. These people have atoned for their wrong doings by having their freedom taken away. These people are still paying for their mistakes even though they have tried to turn their lives around. Tamisha Walker was convicted for arson which is a felony, she severed her time but just because she has a felony, businesses do not want to hire her. Even fast food places such as McDonalds do not want her. I understand that they are looking out for their business well-being and trying to keep everyone safe but Tamisha has served her time and probable does not want to go back to jail. Another example of a person being punished after they have paid you debts to society is Jordan. Jordan committed a robbery at the age of 19, he is still being punished at the age of 33. Some of the restrictions is that he cannot adopt, he cant coach his kids little league team, and he cannot get a real estate license. He did a stupid thing at a young age and the consequences for his actions still are felt 14 years later. I am not saying that these people should not be restricted after they have served their time for a felony, but to be ousted like they have leprosy should stop. Like I said just because they served their time doesn’t mean they shouldn’t have any restrictions in place, They should have some restrictions, like the restriction that a felon cannot own a gun. But to restrict someone from coaching their sons little league team because they committed a felony such as robbery 14 years ago does not need to be a restriction. ClarkKent711
ReplyDeleteWow. I can't believe that 80% of people in California that have low-level criminal record still get judged by what they did in their past. I do agree that "People shouldn't be held accountable", said Jordan who is the director of the Second Chances Program. but they shouldn't be restricted because of a mistake they made in their life. California started changing the way they handle crimes such as decriminalize marijuana and make certain felonies to misdemeanors, I am happy about this because nobody has ever died to a marijuana OD because the worst it will do is make you eat a lot... I'm not saying I support someone who is addicted to drugs and they do others besides marijuana but marijuana has positive effects on the community and we could use it as well to make paper and use it as medication. I am a strong believer that people who just get out of prison is critical because when someone comes out of prison generally they don't have a family, a home, money, etc. so when someone is released if nobody steps up they generally end up doing the crime to provide for themselves and generally go back to prison. In reality the reason why most people were convicted of a crime end up homeless after prison because people in our society look down on these people when they did their time already and yes they should have been punished in some way shape or form but some people really do want help and really do want to change but when they go to apply to places and they get denied because of their history, its really sad because some people really want to join back to society. This article really was an interesting one because people who come back generally do get treated like crap but I do not condone people such as rapist coming back into society but people do deserve a second chance, if they mess up that second chance then I don't know.
ReplyDelete-z33 711
Approximately eighty percent of the people who live in California have a criminal record and struggle to find good jobs. To me this number isn’t very surprising. Many employers are cautious when hiring, especially those who have a prior criminal record. It is understandable; however, it can be very disheartening. These people have served their time, should the crime still be on the record? It’s a double hitter, time in prison and the crime still remains on recorded, which makes it quite challenging to be employed. It is a sad system. One in five people in the state of California have a criminal record. That ratio is serious, and should not be taken lightly. There is a huge number of people who have broken the law in some way and have gotten caught. With this drastic amount, California have passed laws in hopes of reducing the prison population. They decriminalized marijuana and changed certain felonies into misdemeanors. The hope is to reduce the population in prisons. California is one of the first states to take this approach on crime. They are moving away for long term sentencing. I think this is the correct approach to crime. Long term sentencing is not the answer. People change with time and as they get older. It’s hard to punish an “old person” for something they did as a “young person”. Plus, the longer in prison the harder it is to come back out into society as a productive member. I think if California is finding success with this approach of less long-term sentencing and readdressing certain felonies than the rest of the country should consider applying it into their criminal justice sentencing protocols. I think California is ahead of the rest of our country with its profound idea of reducing the mass incarceration catastrophe. If this theory was applied to all the states we would see a significant decrease in mass incarceration within our country. ~CoalRoller711
ReplyDeleteI think that it is a great idea to drop someone’s criminal record. Also doing this could reduce the prison population. If someone cannot get a job because they were in prison, then they are more likely to reoffend and go back to prison. Nearly 80 percent of Californians with low level criminal records struggle to find a job, locate housing, or achieve other successes even though they paid their debt to society. About 1 in every 5 people throughout the state of California has these records. They are subject to restrictions, both that are large and small, imposed on people with a criminal history. I also like that California is stepping away from national long-standing, tough-on-crime policies. The tough on crime policies resulted in mass incarceration around the country, which cost millions, maybe even billions, of dollars. In recent years California has embraced several reform efforts, enacting laws to reduce its prison population. Also California has decriminalized marijuana and reduced certain felonies to misdemeanors. In this article, they talk about a different article that argued that more work needs to be done to help shepherd people back into their normal lives after they have either done their time or paid their fines. Also they argued that barring people from re-entering society could force them to fall back into their old bad habits and landing them back in prison. Which I have to agree with as well. People need to be ready to reenter society. Other people have argued that California’s new progressive trend has already gone too far with this new reform. The legal director at the Criminal Justice Legal Foundation, says he agrees that tweaks need to be made to a person’s criminal record, but in many areas of criminal law recently, people have been using chain saws where they should be using pruning shears, he said. For many people, this could be a good thing. Many people cannot do a lot of things, examples such as adopt a child, cannot become a dog walker, bingo caller, or get either a barbering license or real estate license. I hope that this law goes through because this could do a lot of good for people who made a mistake. –Adventureflight711
ReplyDeleteI found this article interesting because as I read the article I never thought about how many people are affected by their criminal record. “Nearly 80 percent of Californians with even low-level criminal records struggle to find a job, locate housing or achieve other hallmarks of success despite having paid their full debt to society I thought it was crazy to read the statistics on how many people are affected because they can’t find a job or a place to stay.” Also A’bout 8 million Californians, or 1 in 5 people throughout the state, have such records — and they’re subject to thousands of restrictions, large and small, imposed on freed people with a criminal history, the report says.” But also how do you expect them to not reoffend it they can’t get a job then they don’t have any money so they might just go back to they know. Also if they can’t get a place to stay then they can end up on the streets and then they won’t be able to keep a job if they have one. They are trying to change their lives and get jobs and be a better part of society but then they just keep getting denied by these job and it makes it ten times harder for then to redeem themselves and they also have to pay their fines and fees. Also making it difficult to get their kids back and be a part of their lives. I don’t think that someone in their 30’s show have to suffer and pay for the actions that they did are let’s say 18 or 19. I think and hope that they would have learned their lesson and matured a little bit. - mmmchicken711
ReplyDeleteThe idea of this is to give convicted felon’s a chance to make thing right in their life. We have this stigma that, all convicted felons once done with they crime are still the same person that they were before they got incarcerated and committing crime.
ReplyDeletePrison is filled with a lot of people who aren’t even dangerous to the society we live in but still get stigmatized as heinous to society. Yes people make mistakes but we are human not everybody is perfect, a lot of people make mistakes trying to what’s best for their family, so why if they do the time for the crime in which they have committed, and have showed that they are ready to be apart of the hardworking society why do they have to bare that on their back that don’t do anything but contradict all of the progress in which he or she has shown.
I genuinely believe that a lot of people who gets incarcerated should get a second chance at life and just the basic or poverty part of life, more of the “USA DREAM” kind of life if they are willing and determined to work for it the legitimate way. Most of the people who gets incarcerated come realizing they 1. They don’t want to go back ever and 2. That what they did was wrong so why if a person who was convicted of a crime and served its time 35 years later done changed his life around and everything still carrying that weight of being a “felon”, to me they are just like me and you and should be looked upon as such.
I believe that California is heading in the right direction with scratching away from a person being a convicted years later after he was convicted and agree that all states should act upon on such cause at the end of the day a human can correct a mistake if given the opportunity to.
Statechamp711
Eighty percent of California's low level income population struggles to find a job! That's literally insane considering the fact that they are one of the largest states in America. I think something is seriously wrong if that many people are struggling to find a job. The fact that there are so many restrictions preventing them from finding a job actually kind of makes me angry, give these people a chance who cares if they got arrested at 18 for some weed, people change. It is good that they are stepping away from tough crime policies but there is still some serious problems that needs to be fixed. I totally agree that more work needs to be done towards reintegrating people back into society after they have done their time and paid their fines. Clearly the numbers show that not enough work is being done. I think that it is a step in the right direction with proposition 47 was taken away, but all it did was reduce felonies to misdemeanors. I personally do not think that is enough. 80 percent is a really high number, and just reducing some felony charges to misdemeanors will not do the job. I do not think one felony conviction should ruin your chances at getting a job, I think if you have multiple felonies and are a repeat offender then you should have a harder time at getting a job. I think we as America in general should reduce our harsh crime punishment laws. I think it is preventing America in taming this mass incarceration and crime epidemic. Sure I think we have made steps in the right direction, to get rid of this problem, but I don't think we have done enough. The numbers show that we haven't even came close in solving this problem.
ReplyDeleteI-Like-Cereal711
This article did not surprise me when it said how many struggle to find a job,housing or any other task even after serving their time for the crime. It also wasn't surprising to see that we are making reform efforts in recent years, enacting laws to reduce its prison populations, decriminalize marijuana and reduce certain felonies to misdemeanors. I agree that we have to focus on helping them reenter society and keep the on the right tract after they have served time or paid their fine. We should not be making it harder for someone to change their life for the better they should have ever chance a person who hasn't been in prison to get a job because they have served the time that should be punishment enough not to continue making their life difficult by making it hard to get a job find a place to live. It's just not right and not only does this help take down prison population it helps save money. I also like how this article gave examples of people who have struggled like Tamisha Walker, 36, and her arson conviction and how it gave the words that were said in the interview and how they are given false hope just to be turned down immediately just at the sight of the conviction. This article did make it more real by having the personal experience of someone who struggled with the issues. -pizza711
ReplyDeleteI believe dropping those records that were previously incarcerated is a great idea! Many ex-cons can't move on with their life or find jobs or anything like that because their records still following them and holding them back from trying to do better in life and move on because everywhere they go it’s required a background because of some bad choices they made years back or when they were young. You aren’t the same person you were years ago and in some point in lie you want to start over with a fresh start in life just because you learned from your mistakes and looking at the percent of people that is healed back in life because of their background. There are people that served their time but when they come back out they’re limited to the things they do from work to places to live. Removing someone records once they serve they time is basically give individual a second chance to live life and how to live it since they already know how not to live it.-KenzieLand711
ReplyDeleteNow I can imagine with how big that California is, that there might be some people that are hurting to find a job with how many people are living there but I would never think of a number quite like eighty percent. Eighty percent of people with records, even low level crime offenders have a hard time finding a job in California. I would expect it to be a little high but not that high. I can see as a business owner that maybe hiring a felon or something would maybe not benefit your business. But low level offenders could be great workers for you and maybe just made a simple mistake that will be behind them forever. I know that there are people that some companies should not hire because of some of the things that they have done, but some people have learned from what they have done and are just trying to make it in life and trying not to struggle for everything that they want to get in their lives. There are a lot of people out there that are in need of second chances. At least the state of California is trying to do something about all of the crime rates and trying to reduce the populations in jails and lowering consequences for things like marijuana and turning some of their felonies into misdemeanors. Something I found that was interesting in the article was where they were talking about other types of things that people can not do. Some of the people convicted of felonies have a hard time not only finding a job but have a hard time getting housing and are unable to adopt kids or coach their children’s little league teams, which is sad if they have really turned their lives around and are trying to better the lives of others. -Steel711
ReplyDeleteDropping the records of inmates after a good amount of time is a good idea in my eyes. Now looking at this, even as the article said, obviously this wouldn’t be something good for sex offenders/sexual predators, or murderers. This could be a really good thing for those people that are stepping out into fresh air again. Having just one crime on your record WILL ruin anyone’s chances at finding a job as well as housing. Someone could have been the most perfect person throughout their school years and do one dumb thing, get behind bars for it, and then when they are released are found jobless, helpless, and hopeless thanks to that mark on the record. As we’ve all said several times this year. A person that has gone to prison may not be the same person when they leave. Yes, there are a lot of people in the world that never change BUT there are a lot of people out there that do change. This can be easily seen with their behavior and choices after they get out. After people have done their time or paid their fines AND have shown that they will not go back. Let that be no more drugs, no more petty thefts, etc. As well as they have shown a continuous effort to try to get back on their feet. Not everyone deserves a second chance but a lot of people in the world do. How do we expect the incarceration rates to go down if people keep going back because of a crime on their record. Though some are worse than others, most of these crimes cannot possibly be violent crimes. People need help, most want help, and once that help is received I can guarantee they will return to society as better person and will be able to live steady just as everyone else.
ReplyDelete-Tanlion_Nala711
I’ve known for a long time our country has an extremely high recidivism rate but in the few weeks I’ve been in this class I’m starting to feel like people are intentionally not doing anything to combat this problem. It’s one thing when they wrote those laws, it could be argued that they didn’t know the effects of the legislation they were passing. But now that we can see them there are still people fighting these changes? Why? Reading about Jordan who was 19 when he was convicted of a robbery can’t be a coach for his sons little league team? He can’t even get a barbers license? Why? Once someone has served their sentence should they not just be a regular member of society? Obviously there are different circumstances for serious crimes, but a robbery committed at 19? I never committed a robbery but I know I wouldn’t feel comfortable if I was permanently judged and punished for the mistakes I made when I was 19. I would support more programs that allowed for peoples records to be hidden after a certain amount of time depending on the severity of the crime. To me it seems that if we are going to allow people to be outside of prison we need to allow them to function outside of prison so that they don’t continually re-offend and just start the cycle over. It seems to the arguments this type of legislation relies more on emotion rather than logic. Like, I think people are more interested in punishment than actually trying to solve the problem. It’d be one thing if punishment has been shown to work and actually be a net benefit to society but clearly our system is set up to just have a cycle of crime and stuff our prisons.
ReplyDeleteAvatar711
I believe that after a certain period of time a person background should go away as long as it is not rape or murder or something down that line. If they went to jail for drugs or even robbery I feel like it should be taking off their record. My brothers are felonies for the most dumbest thing under the sun such as lying about his name. Since he a felony for that petty reason some jobs won't hire him even though it happened years ago. I feel like holding a person background against them is not right considering the fact it make them living a regular life harder considering the fact jobs won't hire them and if jobs won't hire them they gone go to the streets for fast Money then end up going back to jail for another offense like selling drugs when in reality all they were trying to do was make money. This article was really interesting to me though considering the fact I see this in my everyday life with my brothers and too read about it made me realize this is an international problem all over the world. What make things worse is the people who are in jail be happy too hear they are getting out but they don't realize how hard it will be once they get out. When jobs see that you have a felony charge they just put your application to the side no matter if you got that charge 10 years ago or not. People turn there nose up to people with a bad background when whole time they can work as good as the net person they just made a bad decision some way down the line. Many places around the world are getting rid of non violent charges on people background in hope that they will be able to live a normal life. -Jollyrancher711
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