This blog comments on the overly severe consequences of having a felony on record. Having a misdemeanor on your record could cost more than previously thought. Most people with a criminal background are not considered for hire in the job market. Without a job, these people have a hard time supporting their families. The families go hungry, some even homeless. People who serve a sentence and pay their debt to society end up paying for whatever mistake they made for the rest of their life. The Ella Baker Center for Human Rights is trying to change this. The Center believes that people should receive a second chance at life. That minor crimes such as theft shouldn't leave someone suffering for the rest of their lives. The Center's mission is to restore fairness to those who have made mistakes but attempted to recover from them. Also, to open up the job market so that employers look at the skills of the potential employee and not automatically turn them down. Bill AB2727 has been introduced in California to give people with a criminal background a fair chance to get called back for an interview. Should convicted felons get a second chance at a new life? What types of felonies should not be overlooked, and which should? How much time should pass before an employer hires someone with a criminal background?
http://www.ellabakercenter.org/blog/2010/05/a-new-chance-at-a-second-chance/
“I completed my term of supervised release. In theory, my debt to society was paid. But in reality, I’m still serving time. And so is my family.”
ReplyDeleteThis is so true! I feel if you have served time for a crime that you shouldn't be discriminated against for the rest of your life. Crimes such as theft, vandalism, liquor law violations, drunkenness, and curfew violations are minor on the scale of felonies. These should be forgiven and forgotten because most likely a person messed up once and got caught for it. That person should not have to pay for the rest of their life for one little slip up. I think all employers should try to understand the situation of the person’s felony before completely rejecting them.
It is to my belief that there is little wrong with employers having doubt and concern about hiring criminals. They want reliable workers, positive and cheerful employees, people who will represent the company well. That is a few of the things that are taken into consideration during the hiring process. While it is unfortunate that past criminals struggle to find jobs, we cannot look down upon employers too much as it is a dog eat dog world, they need to make the best business decisions possible in order to compete in the ever changing society.
ReplyDeleteActually I think for people who convicted some
ReplyDeletetypes of felonies such as theft in Childhood or only stole food or drind in emergency situaiton should be given second chances because first,as a child,people still haven't built the sense of mority so that they don't deserve the bad judgement from their boss in their rest of life. And for people who convict theft due to the hunger is also should be treated not so seriously, either. I think probaly 2 years should pass before an employer hires someone with a criminal background to test and to observer whether he or she is worht trusting or not.
I believe everyone deserves a fair chance but what you do with your chance is where the split happens. A person chooses to commit a crime therefore, depending on the the crime, i do not believe criminals after serving time in prison should have the same equality in job applications. Employers invest their money in the people they hire. If there are many applications for jobs, with many qualified people, it makes more sense to hire the people who have not committed crimes. Especially jobs that require certain security clearances, I personally would not want person with a criminal record as an officer in the military or as the Secretary of Defense.
ReplyDeleteAs far as I am concerned, nobody is perfect, everyone may make mistake.If one makes a error and corrects it as soon as possible, it evalutes more. So, it is rational to give a second chance to convicted felons. However, it is necessary to educate people who commit a crime. With a better understanding of legality they can cherish the second chance they get and become good people and benefit the community.
ReplyDeleteIn my opinion, employer should think it over before making decision to hire felons. As we know, making profit always comes first to a company. In order to make more revenue, employers should choose someone who can really make contribution to the company instead of hiring some troublemakers or someone with criminal records that will stain the fame of a company. What's more, many felons will recommit crime once they have done the first. What if a felon commits the crime again in a company, like theft, sexual offense, or even some other felonies? It would be a great loss to a company that could be compensated to some extent. Felons in a company kindly like time bombs, one will not know if the bombs will blast or not, when will it blast. What’s more, if people always give second chances to criminals, thus committing crimes seems no a big deal for people who intending to do so and the rate of crimes must increase.
ReplyDeleteI think that criminals should absolutely be given a second chance at a new life. Many convicted felons spend their sentence wallowing in what they have done, regretting the decision every day. Also, a good deal of people spend their time in prison improving themselves. They may spend their time being educated or become part of the prison work force, helping to do some of the tasks that will prepare them for jobs outside of the walls. There should be a line, however, that is drawn when dealing with letting convicted felons back in to society. A murderer or rapist should not be put on the same terms as someone who committed tax fraud!
ReplyDeleteI believe that employers have the right to turn away convicted criminals for jobs. These criminals made the decision in their past to commit the crime and they should have thought about the future consequences. Companies need to have trust in their employees and they have a valid concern if they don't want to risk hiring someone with a record. This is especially true right now when employers have plenty of applicants with clean records to choose from due to the high unemployment rates and tough job market. It's a sad truth that convicted felons have to deal with this upon their release from jail, but they should not expect to be treated as equals to the rest of society.
ReplyDeleteIt depends on the type of business the employer is trying to run. If it deals with a lot of public service, I think they should definitely think about if they want to hire a felon. I also think that there should be some way for felons to work under close supervision for a certain amount of time to prove that they did their time, and it won't happen again. The competition in the job market now also has a lot to do with it. When it comes down to someone with a clean record and someone with a misdemeanor, the person with a clean record is going to get the job. I think it also depends on what the misdemeanor was, if it is something that could affect the business or threaten any of the other employees then the employer must take this into account. It is unfortunate that felons are subject to so much scrutiny, but really it is a choice that they made when they committed their crime.
ReplyDeleteAs humans, we all make mistakes, and i believe that everyone deserves a second chance. When it comes to the fairness of job applications, I believe that people have have commited these crimes and misdemeanors should not be completly discriminated against. However, I know we live in very judgemental society and this acceptance of criminals will never be the case. I think their crime should be taken into account when doing a job application. People with clean records will mostly likey always get the job over people with criminal records. Companies dont want to hire people who they might find a risk to the company or the other employees. Unfortunatly, these criminals will pay for their crimes the rest of their lives when it comes to jobs and I personally dont think this will ever change.
ReplyDeleteIn my opinion, when a crime is serious enough to be deemed as a felony, there can be no doubt that a serious offense has been committed. Therefore, convicted felons should not be given chances they do not deserve because statistics show that most do not make good use of the ones they are given. Crimes such as murder and rape should absolutely never be overlooked and criminals with these felonies on their records should not be considered for a job. In the end the choice of whether to do something illegal is up to the individual, and if he chooses to proceed despite the consequences, he deserves to face those consequences including those after prison.
ReplyDeleteConvicted felons should not have to suffer for some mistakes that they might have made for such an extensive period. I sympathize for those who are victim to such crimes done against them, but should the ones involved really have to suffer so severely? The case may vary for each individual, but having such serious and excessive punishment for many is outrageous. Granted, there should be certain circumstances when these felonies should not be overlooked, but that may be reserved for the more serious or repetitious offenders. Significant time should be allotted after the felony before the crime shall be overlooked by employers, but studies might have to be done in order to reach the optimum point in which the offenders have matured and will not commit such a felony once hired.
ReplyDeletePeople need to know that convicting a felon is a life long "commitment." Yes, you may be set free back into the world after your sentence or trial is over but you will always have this issue following your name, as stated in the article. I think this, in some circumstances, is a good thing. This should hopefully refrain people from committing acts of breaking the law. It should scare people that if you break the law your felon will always follow your name. This should hopefully reduce crime in America and around the world. I do in fact believe in second chances and that everyone deserves one. Before I stated that certain circumstances deserve second chances. If a person, for example, gets caught and arrested for not paying a parking ticket, than that really shouldn't affect you in the way of not receiving a job. Everybody makes mistakes. On the contrary, someone who murders a person and has done their time in prison should understand that people will always look at him or her differently. That is a serious crime and honestly I don't think I would hire a person who murdered another individual just for my own personal safety. This situation is an "ify" topic.
ReplyDeleteThe law regarding felons is fine as it is, what should be a changed is the definition for what a felony is, where the less serious crimes defined as felonies should be made into simpler crimes, not life-defining mistakes. As the author says, the consequences of his drug offense were, legally, to go to jail for a set amount of time. However, the fact that now he cannot provide for his family for the rest of his life, should be clear evidence that this law needs to be changed so that it does not essentially kill the person for one mistake, especially when dealing with drugs, a very addictive and controversial subject.
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ReplyDeleteI definitely believe that everyone deserves a second chance, because I believe that people can change and become better people over time. However, I believe that employers should known if there future employees have committed certain felonies, such as murder or rape. Although I think that the criminals that commit these violent crimes have a chance to stop committing crimes, the employers should definitely know about them. Misdemeanors, on the other hand, should definitely not prevent people from getting jobs in the future. They should stay on the person's criminal record, but employers should not be given access to the records. If a student here at OSU receives an underage drinking offense, it should not prevent him from an engineering job after he or she graduates from high school. The law should be changed.
ReplyDeleteI think that everyone deserves a second chance, criminals included. I can understand employers being hesitant to hire someone with a criminal background. However I feel that not given a healthy chance receive employment, what little choice does the former criminal have than to re-offend in many cases.
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