Blog

 
     

Illinois Rep. Stresses Criminal Justice Reform and Re-Entry into Society

By Michael Klazema on 3/20/2016
With the Illinois presidential primary looming, State Representative La Shawn K. Ford held a press conference on Sunday, March 13th, urging the candidates to make criminal justice reform a centerpiece of their campaigns. In particular, Ford, a Democrat who hails from Chicago, stressed the importance of making it possible for criminal offenders to re-enter into society after serving their time.

In a press release distributed prior to the Sunday event, Ford said that "a criminal background in America prevents citizens from living a productive life." His words align with an argument that has been waged about employment equality, criminal histories, and background checks for years. More and more cities, states, and counties throughout the country are responding to the argument by "banning the box" and taking questions about criminal history off job applications. Ford's native Chicago has even gone one step further than most jurisdictions, banning the box for both private and public employers.

Still, Ford believes that there is a long way to go before our country will be able to break the cycle of recidivism. Often, ex-offenders struggle to find jobs due to the stigma against them. Ford's hope is that, someday, this discriminatory treatment will end. "Americans with criminal records should be given a second chance if they have served their time and are fully committed to obeying the laws of the land," he said in his press release. Unfortunately, many convicted criminals carry their misdeeds with them for years after finishing out their sentences. And when ex-offenders can't find jobs to support themselves or their families, they are more likely to fall back into patterns of criminal activity, get arrested once more, and re-enter the prison system. The issue, in other words, leads to overcrowded prisons, violent and dangerous streets, and broken families.

Ford wants the next President of the United States—whoever that is—to focus on making a different kind of re-entry a priority. He wants criminal offenders who have served their time to be given the second chance to re-enter society, get jobs, and climb back up the ladder of the American Dream. With the current presidential candidates carrying wildly different viewpoints on the future of criminal justice reform, the forthcoming election could significantly affect the feasibility of societal re-entry. For instance, Republican frontrunner Donald Trump believes the country needs to be tougher on crime while Democratic candidate Bernie Sanders wants to curb over-incarceration and pursue alternative options.


Sources:

http://chicagodefender.com/2016/03/13/call-on-presidential-candidates-to-make-re-entry-a-priority/

http://chicagoreporter.com/making-the-case-for-black-voters-to-feel-the-bern/

http://www.msnbc.com/morning-joe/watch/trump-on-criminal-justice-reform-509292611802

http://feelthebern.org/bernie-sanders-on-criminal-justice/
Industry News
  Illionois
Author
Michael Klazema

Tag Cloud
Categories
Recent Posts

Latest News

  • April 23 — A property management company hired a maintenance worker last fall because her background check came back clean. In reality, she had convictions for identity theft, drug possession, forgery, and more.
  • April 18 — Riding the wave of ban the box rules passed in many states and cities, the Senate and House of Representatives will consider permanent rules for federal employment. 
  • April 16 — A recent audit of Ottawa’s leasing office found that the department isn’t properly managing the leasing process. Among the issues was a lack of background checks for new lessees.
  • April 16 — Uber is redefining the way we get around, especially in urban areas. What are the company’s policies for driver background checks?
  • April 12 — Staffing agencies need a dependable way to vet their candidates, find red flags, and weed out hires who might pose a threat to the businesses that the agency serves. Many staffing companies rely on backgroundchecks.com to fill this critical employee screening need. Here are just a few that have discovered the quality and reliability of backgroundchecks.com screening services.
  • April 11 —

    The employment world is a constantly-evolving organism driven by everything from technological leaps forward to shifts in culture. Read our ten enterprise-focused trends that SMBs should expect to encounter and contend with in 2019.

  • April 11 — Seeking to expand housing availability in a region characterized by shortages, Portland’s City Council will consider new rules concerning how landlords screen and reject potential tenants.
  • April 09 — San Joaquin County in California has recorded four sexual misconduct cases involving local youth sports programs in the past month alone. The cases highlight the importance of background checks in youth sporting organizations.
  • April 09 — Which background checks are required for teachers? There are differing state and school policies for teacher background checks.
  • April 04 — Seeking a way to hold the Catholic Church responsible for alleged abuse, West Virginia has taken a unique approach: suing using a law meant for consumer protection.