Wal-Mart shouldn't turn felony convictions into life sentences - Jeff Garrett, DFP

[Bozita]

http://www.freep.com/article/20091223/BLOG2505/91223025/1322/Wal-Mart-shouldnt-turn-convictions-into-life-sentences-


Jeff Garrett
POSTED DECEMBER 23, 2009 - 2:42 P.M.
Wal-Mart shouldn't turn convictions into life sentences

Felonies carry lacerating lifetime penalities for nearly 1.3 million people in Michigan. You read that right. One in every six adults in Michigan has a felony record, according to Michigan State Police records. When companies like Wal-Mart in Pittsfield Township exclude hiring any of them — no matter what or how old the conviction is — it sends the wrong message to the rest of society. Lifetime restrictions on employment make bad social policy and shortsighted business practice. They also raise serious legal questions, as the American Civil Liberties Union of Michigan noted this week.

In a Dec. 22 letter to Wal-Mart, the ACLU rightly expressed concern about reports that Wal-Mart’s new store in Pittsfield Township was automatically excluding any applicant with a felony from the selection process. “The blanket exclusion of ex-felons from employment without regard to qualifications or the possibility of rehabilitation punishes individuals who have already done their time and are trying to become productive members of society,’’ said ACLU of Michigan staff attorney Jessie Rossman. “We cannot afford to turn a past felony conviction into a life sentence of unemployment and poverty. Everyone benefits when ex-offenders are given the tools to succeed upon release.’’

It’s easier to get jammed up in the system than most people think. I recently wrote about a Detroiter and retired auto worker who was barred from nursing school, despite being an honor student, because of an almost decade-old case in which he caught a felony firearms conviction, following a routine traffic stop, for having his legally registered gun in a duffel bag on the back seat of his car. He was coming back from a shooting range.

Helping ex-offenders re-enter society is the official policy of the state of Michigan. Prisoner re-entry efforts have had bi-partisan support around the country, including from the former administration of George W. Bush. With 600,000 people a year coming out of the nation’s prisons, including more than 12,000 a year in Michigan, giving people a second chance is not only fair — it’s essential to public safety.

As the ACLU notes, prohibiting all applicants with a felony conviction from obtaining a job also violates federal anti-discrimination law. Such policies have a disparate impact on African Americans. No one is saying that there are not legitimate reasons for not hiring people with felony convictions. But a blanket ban is unfair, unreasonable and discriminatory.

Nearly two years ago, the city of Battle Creek enacted an ordinance prohibiting most city vendors from excluding all people with felony records from the hiring process. The ordinance sent an important message that felony convictions shouldn’t mean a life sentence. Private employers like Wal-Mart should follow that city’s example, especially during a season when the idea of redemption has a special meaning for millions of Americans.

[LuvNewcastle]

1. Wow! One in six have committed felonies?

While I think it's a good idea to get businesses to hire these folks, I think it's more important for the legislature to look at their laws and reduce the penalties for some crimes. When felons make up one-sixth of your adult population, it isn't completely the fault of the offenders, there's also something wrong with the laws governing them.

[Downtown Hound]

3. All you have to do is erad the example in the piece about the guy

who got a felony weapons conviction for having his legal gun in a duffel bag in the back seat of his car. The bottom line about the system is that it's more interested in convictions than it is about establishing justice. There's A LOT wrong with our legal system.

[unblock]

4. i'm not clear on what the crime there is. gun in trunk legal, gun on back seat felony?

or did the law require that the gun be unloaded and locked when in a motor vehicle?

[progressoid]

2. Seems like NOT getting a job at Walmart would actually be a good thing.

:shrug:

[Tutankhamun]

5. Maybe they could force felons to work at Wal-Mart.

In lieu of prison time, people could be forced to epay society by working for Wal-Mart and receiving the standard Wal-Mart pay and "benefits."

Come to think of it, that's a little harsh...