Overcriminalization significantly undermines human flourishing and social well-being by harming the family, social networks, and social citizenship. Additionally, it prevents capable men and women from utilizing their creative capacities in the marketplace. This creates vast issues involving relations with family while incarcerated and reintegration into society after release. On the economic side, draconian cash bail systems undermine justice through basing someone's ability to attain pre-trial release upon their wealth, not their actual threat to society.
"Helping people who are incarcerated build their skills through education or training is therefore a worthwhile goal and one that enjoys significant support. According to a recent study, 70% of incarcerated people reported wanting to enroll in some academic program while incarcerated."
Forbes
August 23, 2018
Read More"When Congress passed the Thirteenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution in 1865, ending slavery, it left open a loophole: Involuntary servitude could continue as "punishment for crime whereof the party shall have been duly convicted." This effectively legalized slavery among imprisoned populations, allowing former slaveholders in the South to implement a convict lease system, contracting prisoners out to private firms."
Pacific Standard
August 22, 2018
Read More"Within a penal system that in its other features was more likely to degrade and reduce human development, Michael accidentally fell into a program that, but for the exploitative pay, is an excellent example of a response to wrongdoing that seeks to make the victim whole, seeks to make the community whole and seeks to help the wrongdoer prepare for positive relations with the broader society."
Washington Post
August 8, 2018
Read More"One problem with using recidivism as a primary measure of success is that it misleads the public and policymakers by focusing on negative rather than positive outcomes. It also ignores the structural conditions around an individual’s life that push them into the justice system and act as barriers to successful reentry."
Vera Institute of Justice
August 7, 2018
Read More"The RAND study found that every dollar spent on prison education could save up to $5 in costs during the first three years after a prisoner is released. A rigorous cost-benefit analysis of prison programs by the Washington State Institute for Public Policy found that the benefits of both post-secondary education for prisoners and vocational educational programs far outweighed the costs in that state. The institute found a benefit after costs of more than $24,600 per participant for programs run out of the state’s prisons."
USA Today
July 27, 2018
Read More"Using a nationally representative dataset, we provide the first ever estimate of unemployment among the 5 million formerly incarcerated people living in the United States. Our analysis shows that formerly incarcerated people are unemployed at a rate of over 27% — higher than the total U.S. unemployment rate during any historical period, including the Great Depression."
Prison Policy Initiative
July 16, 2018
Read More"Many states have 'blanket bans' on ex-criminals obtaining licenses, while others use 'good character' requirements that allow licensing boards to arbitrarily exclude ex-criminals. These laws make it harder for people out of prison to adjust to society, and therefore make it more likely that people re-enter the prison system."
The Tennessee Star
July 15, 2018
Read More"The House Subcommittee on Higher Education and Workforce Development has advised states to review their licensing laws. Strict licensing requirements have cost the economy 2.85 million jobs, according to The Hamilton Project, a research group within the liberal Brookings Institution."
The Marshall Project
July 10, 2018
Read More"One seemingly good policy is rehabilitation certificates. When a court certifies a former prisoner as having been rehabilitated, it sends a signal to employers that this isn’t one of the scary ex-convicts they might have a picture of in their mind."
Bloomberg
June 27, 2018
Read More"Half the states bar ex-cons from getting the occupational licences they need to re-enter the workforce. Lawmakers on both sides of the aisle say it doesn't make sense."
NBC
May 26, 2018
Read More"Whether by making a commitment to hire ex-offenders or providing work and training to inmates, businesses have a critical role to play in providing opportunity to those who have run afoul of the criminal justice system and, ultimately, in reducing recidivism and enhancing public safety."
CNN
May 20, 2018
Read More"I’ve realized that our society often sets up those released from prison for failure through a myriad of barriers to re-entry. These barriers include employers that are unwilling to take risks on those with criminal records and landlords who are reluctant to make housing available.....As human resources professionals, we can help break this cycle."
The Society for Human Resource Management
May 17, 2018
Read More"74 percent of managers and 84 percent of HR professionals nationwide said they were willing or open to hiring individuals with a criminal record. Across all groups surveyed, over 80 percent said they were willing and open to working with individuals with criminal records. Only a small minority were unwilling to make the hire or work alongside these individuals."
The Charles Koch Institute
May 17, 2018
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