Friday, June 29, 2007
A second chance to live productive lives
From the RoundTable blog
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Rep. Charles Rangel, D-N.Y., stated on the floor of Congress that the federal penal system is structured in such a way that it actually drives good people into prison. He also noted that this so-called "justice system" unduly impacts minority communities.
Many groups, including the NAACP, already support HR 1593 titled "The Second Chance Act of 2007," sponsored by Rep. Danny Davis, D-Ill., that will provide almost $200 million to fund prisoner re-entry programs.
Well, there is a second "Second Chance Act" -- Rangel's HR 623 that is as vitally important, will cost the taxpayers nothing and will provide even greater results.
Rangel's bill would provide that nonviolent, first-time offenders who have completed all terms of their sentence, provided a year of community service and have proven themselves to be both drug- and alcohol-free are entitled to prove their rehabilitation by clear and convincing evidence before their federal sentencing judge in a "mini-trial."
Further, if there is ever a subsequent conviction for any state or federal crime, the expungement is completely negated and the facts of the prior crime can be used for any purpose.
Rangel's bill provides that if a federal judge orders expungement of the conviction the ex-offender can receive his civil rights as though there had been no conviction, but law enforcement is at all times able to access the conviction information.
Virtually all states have some sort of relief afforded to their ex-offenders either through passage of time or by an expungement proceeding such as that proposed by Rangel.
At this time, there is absolutely no provision for federal ex-offenders. The "power of the pardon" has died in the White House, according to Margy Love, former pardon attorney under both Republican and Democratic administrations.
In fact, so few pardons are granted that the current administration has ceased publishing the statistics. In the past 12 months, fewer than 20 have been granted. Were the rates of pardon-granting from the 1920s and '30s followed today, there would have been more than 1,000 pardons each year since Bush took office. These statistics are shown on our site at www.rehabilitated.org/compassion.htm.
As Rangel also stated, the effect of a federal conviction is to deny employment, education and housing opportunities enjoyed by every resident in the United States. This is true for both citizens, legal residents and those here illegally, but are permanently denied to citizens and lawful permanent residents who are federal ex-offenders even decades after their conviction.
Thus, there is a crying need for reform. There should be no wonder that America has the developed world's highest recidivism rate. While all other developed countries do their best to reintegrate ex-offenders, in America it is a bus ticket and 20 bucks. All hope of rehabilitation is thus denied to our citizen ex-offenders. Because our federal penal system has been termed a "breeding ground for radicals," this problem is also one of national security because -- with all hope of a future beyond the conviction being taken away -- the propaganda of the radical hatemongers may become alluring to some desperate individuals who are in this permanently disenfranchised sub-caste of some 2 million federal ex-offenders.
Thus, support for HR 623 is even more important than support for HR 1593. Join our coalition by visiting our site, www.rehabilitated.org and using our contact page. Or, call me at 877-587-9266.
If you are a federal ex-offender, you may find great benefit from reviewing our site and taking part in our rehabilitation program found under the classes tab.
