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Bill to help get ex-convicts back to work clears state Assembly hurdle
NJ.com ^

Posted on 02/09/2015 5:23:58 PM PST by SMGFan

TRENTON - A bill sponsored by two Hudson County legislators that would help convicted felons reintegrate into society upon their release from prison has been approved by the State Assembly Law and Public Safety Committee.

The bill (A-3602), which is sponsored by Assemblymen Raj Mukherji and Charles Mainor, D-Jersey City, and Thomas Giblin, D-Clifton, would establish a certificate of rehabilitation to remove barriers that prevent people with criminal records who have a history of substance abuse from securing employment, professional licenses and housing.

"For many who have been incarcerated, the lifelong stigma of having a criminal record is compounded by the resulting consequence of not being able to find a job and take care of one's family or living on the street after being denied housing," Mukherji said in a statement. "While everyone makes mistakes -- which may rightfully require punishment -- people deserve the opportunity to recover from those mistakes

(Excerpt) Read more at nj.com ...


TOPICS: Crime/Corruption; Culture/Society; Politics/Elections; US: New Jersey
KEYWORDS:
Lawsuits if a business picks a non-criminal?
1 posted on 02/09/2015 5:23:58 PM PST by SMGFan
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To: SMGFan

Go to jail, get a job. Be honest? Forget it.


2 posted on 02/09/2015 5:27:54 PM PST by SkyDancer (I Was Told Nobody Is Perfect But Yet, Here I Am ...)
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To: SMGFan
"For many who have been incarcerated, the lifelong stigma of having a criminal record is compounded by the resulting consequence of not being able to find a job and take care of one's family or living on the street after being denied housing," Mukherji said in a statement. "While everyone makes mistakes -- which may rightfully require punishment -- people deserve the opportunity to recover from those mistakes [...]

It used to be that such an idea was called paying one's debt to society.
I think it worked fairly well until two things happened (1) the laws were changed so that there were crimes that you could never pay the debt for; and (2) the death penalty and corporal punishment was [essentially] abolished.

This created a second-class of citizen: what we see now as a felon (even if he's already served the sentence), it also paved the way for ridiculous-length sentencing like 15- and 20-years. (Seriously, even if we assume that a person on average lives to 80, the 20-year sentence is 1/4 of that; it's enough time for your kids to grow-up and have kids themselves.)

3 posted on 02/09/2015 5:41:25 PM PST by OneWingedShark (Q: Why am I here? A: To do Justly, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with my God.)
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To: SkyDancer

It’s not that simple. Once you’ve gone to jail, many Americans won’t let you forget it. You may as well crawl under a bridge to die.


4 posted on 02/09/2015 5:42:30 PM PST by Jonty30 (What Islam and secularism have in common is that they are both death cults)
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To: SMGFan

Let them work for our esteemed Congressmen in their homes and offices first.


5 posted on 02/09/2015 5:46:50 PM PST by Cowgirl of Justice
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To: Jonty30
I agree. Am a life-long conservative Catholic, and I believe in second chances. I also believe in concealed-carry, self-defense, the death penalty and that my house is my castle.

But -- too often the "justice system" has a vested interest in turning a one-time sentence for doing something stupid into someone's life-long criminal career. There are a lot of lawyers, judges and social workers whose livelihoods depend on the revolving door of justice.
6 posted on 02/09/2015 6:27:36 PM PST by Montana_Sam (Truth lives.)
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To: SMGFan
I'm hearing that legislation such as this is what we call "mandated blindness" in that employers cannot ask if an applicant was a felon or if they are an illegal.

But they can certainly get sued if their felon employee commits a crime on the job or the illegal without a license crashes a company car.

Anyone who thinks lawyers don't run our government is a maroon.

7 posted on 02/09/2015 6:33:32 PM PST by Lizavetta
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To: SkyDancer

Look, I’d much rather a Felon who is an American citizen and served their sentence get a job than some border hopping illegal. And logically, if you don’t offer a Felon a way to make an honest living they will go back to their former method of making money for sure.


8 posted on 02/09/2015 6:47:28 PM PST by Mastador1 (I'll take a bad dog over a good politician any day!)
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To: Lizavetta

No, this has to do with a person being able to get a certificate of rehabilitation once they pass certain criteria. This certificate is only possible for certain crimes...not murder, sexual assault, kidnapping, etc. There is nothing in the article about illegals as far as I can tell.

It doesn’t sound like a bad idea.


9 posted on 02/09/2015 7:08:57 PM PST by Girlene
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To: Cowgirl of Justice
Let them work for our esteemed Congressmen in their homes and offices first.

Ding, ding, ding - we have a thread winnah!

10 posted on 02/09/2015 7:11:42 PM PST by GOPJ (If you can't get on the high horse for people burned alive and children raped, what's the horse for?)
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To: SMGFan

Yep, let’s worry about criminals and to hell with the 92 million others.

How about a rising tide lifts all boats?

Just get people back to work Obama, you dumb ass.


11 posted on 02/09/2015 7:12:15 PM PST by DoughtyOne (The question is Jeb Bush. The answer is NO!)
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To: Mastador1

What I’m saying is why give a felon a job when someone who hasn’t been in jail as in an American citizen who applies for the same job or any job and the felon gets it instead? So the felon gets the job so they won’t go back to their former methods??? Okay then, the honest American who can’t get that job goes out and becomes a felon then can get a job. Okay, I see it.


12 posted on 02/09/2015 7:14:45 PM PST by SkyDancer (I Was Told Nobody Is Perfect But Yet, Here I Am ...)
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To: Jonty30

So it’s the honest American citizen who doesn’t turn to a life of crime to enjoy a certain life style .... their fault. So that means that honest person should go and become a felon so they can get a job. The felon should have thought of their actions first .... but then ....


13 posted on 02/09/2015 7:17:59 PM PST by SkyDancer (I Was Told Nobody Is Perfect But Yet, Here I Am ...)
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To: SkyDancer

What I’m saying is only that they should be in front of illegals, behind non criminal Americans.


14 posted on 02/09/2015 7:18:12 PM PST by Mastador1 (I'll take a bad dog over a good politician any day!)
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To: SMGFan

Completing your sentence either pays your debt or it doesn’t. If it does, there’s no reason to keep paying it until the day you die.


15 posted on 02/09/2015 7:45:35 PM PST by IronJack
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To: Mastador1

Okay, gotcha ... :)


16 posted on 02/09/2015 8:20:58 PM PST by SkyDancer (I Was Told Nobody Is Perfect But Yet, Here I Am ...)
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To: SMGFan
"While everyone makes mistakes -- which may rightfully require punishment -- people deserve the opportunity to recover from those mistakes

This point is "validated" by all the murders and other heinous crimes committed by the illegals who keep getting the "opportunities to recover from past mistakes".

What could go wrong? I would also assume that those getting the "opportunities" would become a protected species and less likely to be successfully prosecuted when they continue their ways.

17 posted on 02/10/2015 5:06:06 AM PST by trebb (Where in the the hell has my country gone?)
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