Doug Berman’s Sentencing, Law and Policy tipped me to the website for this new non-profit, which has the same name as this post: “We Deserve Our Lives Back.”
When I checked it out, I found it quite interesting.
Here is its mission statement:
We Deserve Our Lives Back is a non-profit organization established to locate bills/laws that work in conjunction with second chance agencies in providing a re-entry plateau for ex-offenders. Our mission is to reduce recidivism by conversing, petitioning and sharing information through media outlets. Our efforts need your assistance, we are one, yet together we are many, who deserve to have our lives back. Gainful and meaningful employment is a stepping stone but a career is what we strive to regain. We don’t ask that you level the playing field, we just want the opportunity to play.
Right now the group is working for the passage of H.R. 1529, a bill that would allow first-time non-violent ex-federal offenders to petition the court for an expungement of their records.
Last year an identical bill pass through the Congress but was vetoed by then-President George Bush.
This year, Senator Charles Rangel is trying all over again to get the bill through and signed into law.
The site’s founder, Jaime Woodard, explains the personal situation that led him to work for the passage of this and similar laws:
Ten years ago I was convicted of theft of mail and ten yrs later I continue to pay for that valueless moment in my life. I belittled myself and inconvenienced many people, ten yrs later I should not have to continue to pay for that same mistake. I deserved my punishment, I deserved the hardship that I encountered after my release, I deserved the denials of employment and having to regain societies trust and I deserve my life back.
My Associates, Bachelors and soon Masters’ Degree will be valueless not due to the economy but because the federal guidelines for sentencing never implemented an expungement program. A state employee who committed the same offense can petition the court for an expungement and may be very successful in obtaining an expungement.
Gainful employment is a stepping stone to a life long commitment to be productive again in society. We deserve careers and a second chance at an untarnished re-entry to the employment environment. I’am not making an excuse for what I did but we deserve a second chance.
Most, states provide a path for the expungement of criminal records for non-violent offenders when certain requirements are met. In the case of a federal charge, no such avenues exist. Once a person is convicted of a federal felony their record cannot be expunged, not even by Presidential pardon.
It is time to make a change. Giving people like Jaime Woodard their lives back is not merely just and compassionate., it is the wise thing to do.
How is someone an “ex-offender?” Once convicted of an offense, they are always offenders. It’s like calling a girl an ex-virgin just becauae she says so.
Expungement of the records of non-violent criminals doesn’t undo the reality of their crimes, but deceives those who need to know the truth. If I interviewed someone for a financially responsible position, I would want to know if he had embezzeled money in the past, and if I hired people to work in a drug sensitive area, I would want to know if they had ever been convicted of illegal drug use. There are valid reasons that prospective employers need to know the complete, truthful records of applicants. Don’t take that away. Plus, the temptation to become an “ex-ex-offender” might be too great for some in those jobs.
People need to understand that there are consequences for their actions, and others should work to get young people to understand those consequences rather than tell them that they are working to cover up for them.
Concentrate on prevention of crimes with examples of consequences. It’s a lesson that offenders failed to heed, and for which they must face the reality and serve as examples for others.
BTW, Celeste, you’re a racist for using a picture of a black man to represent a criminal.
Woody come on. Is Celeste supposed to print a picture of 23 black people, 60 white people, 18 hispanics, 6 asians, and 3 mix race people, while dividing them up evenly men and women? Come on.
And to your point, don’t generalize. If I divorce my spouse does that mean I’m still a wife or husband? That they’re still my wife or husband? Sorry but ex- was created in the english language for a reason. Always an offender is also an absurdly ignorant statement. What if someone was an underage drinker; are they always an underage drinker? And I’m not just getting caught up in semantics. Have you ever heard of rehabilitation or serving your sentence. I got a criminal mischief misdemeanor for breaking a soap dispenser in a bar a week after I turned 21. This was 2 years and a week ago. I was on probation for a year and year after that I can apply for expungement. Is that so darn unreasonable? I have graduated college in those two years and more than once have I gotten to the final stages at which point I get a call from HR or the hiring manager or my interviewer or my potential supervisor asking about a darn soap dispenser.
Don’t be so ignorant, you or someone you know have done things which you wouldn’t let the whole world know. Sometimes you serve the punishment and it’s time for your reputation to move on.
This isn’t black and white and anyone who says so is living in a bubble.
I am a Non violent Ex Offender and would like We deserve Our Lives Back passed.