Which of the last two presidents vowed to give ex-offenders a second chance in a State of the Union Address? You could hardly be blamed for guessing President Barack Obama, but the answer is President Trump. The quote made headlines due to its peculiarity coming from the “law and order” candidate, but it revealed that even hardliners like Trump are considering better ways to reintegrate former prisoners into society.
In Kansas, both Democratic and Republican members of the legislature have acknowledged a substantial obstacle to offender reentry: the ability to get a job. Senate Bill 421 is a bipartisan measure that aims to reduce the burdensome regulations ex-offenders face from occupational licensing boards.
Roughly one-third of American adults have a criminal record, which implies that more than 700,000 Kansas residents have some conviction. Unfortunately, occupational licensing boards across the country can make it next to impossible to legally work if you have a record. This might be less of an issue if licensed jobs were rare, but roughly one-third of all workers now require a government-granted license.
Nationally, roughly 30,000 licensing restrictions fall on those with criminal records, and thousands of these restrictions come in the form of blanket bans or include vague “moral turpitude” provisions that give boards immense latitude to deny ex-offenders licenses. SB 421 ensures boards cannot use any unrelated conviction as the sole basis for licensure denial. It may make sense to prevent a person with a recent drug conviction from working as a pharmacist, but they should probably be allowed to work as a barber. Inexplicably, the Kansas Board of Barbering can deny licenses to applicants with any misdemeanor drug conviction.
The bill also prevents boards from denying licenses for non-sexual, nonviolent crimes…
“Nonviolent ex-offenders who avoid re-offending for three to four years are no more likely to commit a crime than the average person.”
So we HAVE SOLID PROOF that there is no basis to keep people on the registry beyond 5 years.
Yet none of these idiots who pass sex offender laws wants to use any facts. These people should be sent to JAIL as that is where they belong for treason of the American people.
Segregation of Blacks, then segregation of Gays, and now segregation of ‘sex offenders’. It seems some of the same morons are running this country as back in the 60’s.
One would think those whose groups disproportionally represented among the prison population would line behind the president on this. Instead, since LBJ, they continue to be duped by the left who deliver just enough to keep them on that bottom rung, fat, dumb and angry toward the right.
This notion of “keeping safe” has becoming so cliché nowadays and that needs to be question and challenged.