Posted on 05/21/2008 2:15:53 PM PDT by neverdem
ALBANY — Nearly 100 ex-convicts threaded their way among hordes of noisy schoolchildren clogging halls around the Capitol yesterday, advocating legislation to protect their employment and voting rights, close underused prisons, and make re-entry into society less difficult.
"This charge is led by people who have done time. You're talking about hundreds of years of time in prison," a former inmate, Glenn Martin, said, unloading his pockets at the state police security checkpoint in the Empire State Plaza concourse. "Talk about unlikely lobbyists, right?"
Many dressed in conservative suits, blending with other late-session lobbyists. They carried notebooks with copies of a dozen bills they back. They divided into small groups, each heading to appointments through the day with several lawmakers.
But in ways that were not immediately visible, they were marked — with criminal records that follow them lifelong, voting rights lost while in prison and on parole, and struggles back to the mainstream.
"That is one of the hardest things coming out of prison, trying to get that job," Vilma Donovan told Assemblyman Michael Benjamin. The 45-year-old Long Island woman recalled a job interview that visibly went south after she disclosed her drug conviction, though she said she's been drug-free for eight years.
State law prohibits "unfair discrimination" against those with convictions, it also directs employers to consider what bearing the particular offense has on the job, how long ago it happened, and state certificates and information about conduct since...
--snip--
Mr. Benjamin, a Bronx Democrat, was already a sponsor. He also sponsored the Assembly-passed legislation that would ensure convicted felons are notified of their right to vote again once their sentences are served.
"The voting right is a fundamental American right," Mr. Benjamin said. "It shouldn't be taken away by any state."...
(Excerpt) Read more at nysun.com ...
So what incentive do they have for being clean?
Very little, as the state of the law currently stands.
So, as a Nation, we are supposed to punish people in perpetuity?
OK, child sex offenders, rapists, and cold-blooded murderers should be executed or kept in prison for life, but should we really sentence people of relatively minor crimes to a lifetime of hardship and ostracism after they have supposedly “paid their debt” to society?
Somehow, this runs afoul of my Christian principles - and I think against the principles of our Founders.
Junior hunting bill passes the Assembly PETA & HSUS must be apoplectic.
FReepmail me if you want on or off my New York ping list.
According to the 1968 Gun Control Act, we are. The right of all felons to self defense is severely limited. Which is a more basic right, self defense or voting? I submit the former. Yet who is clamoring to restore the right to vote for all felons, including violent felons, for whose advantage? It's the donkeys! Why? Look at the demographics. It's not the typical white devil.
The US has an unholy high number of prisoners and ex-cons. A large percentage have very few employment options, which is a major problem.
Perhaps a solution might lie in a CCC-type program, in which for the last six months to a year of their sentence, they are sent to a rural work farm, where they will perform ecological restoration projects for minimum wage.
Not only is that beneficial to a State, but it returns the prisoners to “the system”, in which they learn how to have a bank account, how to pay taxes, and especially how to budget.
The idea is to create momentum for productive employment while also creating the “inertia of success”. When their sentence is finished, hopefully it will be easier for them to continue being honest then return to criminality.
What shouldn’t be done is what is done right now, which is to throw them out on the street with nothing. It makes it a lot harder for them to return to normality.
As of May 10, 2007 all 50 states allow felons to
vote. Restrictions apply in some states.
The two most restrictive are Kentucky, where
voting rights can be restored only when the
Governor approves an application for an executive
pardon for reinstatement of voting rights from an
individual after completion of his/her sentence.
Mississippi, where An individual, after
completion of their sentence, must go to his or
her state representative and convince them to
personally author a bill reenfranchising that
individual. Both houses of the legislature must
then pass the bill, and the governor must sign
it. Each year about 10 to 12 people are
re-enfranchised in Mississippi.
25 states allow felons to vote after serving
their sentences and parole or supervised release,
13 states allow felons to vote as soon as they
leave prison, 2 states, (Maine and Vermont) allow
incarcerated felons to vote.
The other 8 states allow felons to vote with less
severe restrictions such as applying to county
boards or waiting 2 to 5 years after completion
of sentence.
http://www.felonvotingprocon.org/pop/StateLaws.htm
Thanks for the text & link.
It was an eye opener to me. I see it a lot on threads that felons can’t legally vote, well, the huge majority of released felons can indeed vote legally. Hillary had a plan for a federal law though, to over ride states rights to decide who can vote and who cannot.
If Barak doesn’t have the same plan, he soon will.
They are both pushing for a law that will eliminate secret balloting in union elections. They both scare the hell out of me and that is why I’ll be voting McCain in November.
This is where they lost me. Bribe companies to hire ex-cons? Maybe anyone who's having trouble finding work should go find some trouble, then employers would snatch them up in a heartbeat.
Thanks for the ping!
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