Posted on 10/24/2013 8:55:38 PM PDT by Tailgunner Joe
The hundreds of thousands of Philadelphians who have served time in prison will no longer be referred to as "ex-offenders" in official city language, the mayor's office announced Thursday. Instead, an ordinance will be introduced to call them "returning citizens."
In a statement, Mayor Nutter said that the new term emphasizes reintegration, while " 'ex-offender' carries with it a stigma which may increase the challenges these citizens face."
While the ordinance, to be introduced by Councilman W. Wilson Goode Jr., awaits approval, the mayor has already issued an executive order making it city policy to use "returning citizen" on all written material from the city.
The order also renamed the Office of Re-integration Services for Ex-Offenders (RISE) to the Office of Re-integration Services. The acronym, however, will remain the same.
RISE executive director Bill Hart said he estimates the city is home to more than 200,000 "returning citizens," but that an exact number is difficult to pinpoint due to a high recidivism rate.
He hopes the new term will have a "cognitive effect" on those returning from prison.
A more positive label, he said, demonstrates that "you can be successful and make that reintegration in the world."
When all is said, done then overdone, people will learn the new and improved title means what it will always mean; Ex-Con.
Brilliant.
0bama is a “returning citizen” from Indonesia.
Mayor Nutcase,
Please keep your ex-cons safely ensconced in your city. It they venture to my environs to restart their lives of crime, they’ll most certainly become ‘returning citizens’, as I’ll send them back COD and nicely packaged for burial.
if a person is ex then no matter how hard they try and succeed they should forever be ex
EX empt from scorn from taxes from derision from laws
i would like to see all the people who can walk on water get on here and TESTIFY
real story could be from the onion. good grief.
I would never dream of offending anyone with the term “ex-offender”. “Jailbird” has such a nice, retro ring to it.
Well, why didn't they say so sooner? If cognitive dissonance is what they're going for, then we need an even more heroic-sounding name.
How about "Surviving Champions?
Political correctness just shows a complete ignorance of how language works. It’s not the word that makes people think of something as “bad,” it’s what the word represents. And as soon as people learn that your new word represents the same thing, that word starts “sounding” just as bad.
You asked the right party the right question!
And some of what's wrong is with traditional, but worldly, conservatives.
No this does not amount to a cheering of what they did or an excuse to do more of it. That's a lie. However your objection itself reflects a minimization of the work of God. Oddly enough it's probably a move in the right direction... but to really give it impetus, the gospel needs to be brought to bear here.
God does not redeem museum saints; God redeems sinners and sometimes they are pretty rank sinners before the work commences.
And no, the work of redemption isn't even theirs! It's that of SWEET JESUS, on the Cross.
Now where they take their lives from THAT point is another question. If they misbehave God chastises them. Sometimes harshly if need be. Because God is determined that they never be lost again.
Anyhow this can be echoed in miniature on this mortal coil. However to really be a good thing, it needs to be a genuine gospel of turning back to a genuine God to receive genuine grace. Not some synthi-gospel about living up to the approval of men.
well the reverse would be departing citizens
Fair enough... or call them temporary exilees???
I haven’t walked on water but my best friend did.
Anyhow. Let’s take a Jesus chill pill and look calmly for where the blessing of the gospel might be expressed better. Then do it.
At first I thought they were renaming sex offenders.
Well you are close, Pennsylvania’s Dept. of Corrections is run by a bunch of clowns. They want the crooks to be treated better to the law abiding citizens. There is no deterrant in the state system. While those who abide by the laws are working to make ends meet. The crooks are eating Ben and Jerry’s ice cream, watching TV on their flat screens and playing games from 8:30 AM til 8:30 PM and getting free medical and dental and buying Girl Scout cookies. This is the tip of the iceberg. Those at Central Office are so far out of touch with reality they went to europe to look at prison systems instead of meeting with the staff of their own prison system to see how to fix the problem. The problem is not those that work on the blocks and have to provide the real security, it is the those who sit around and create this treatment mentality. Instead of letting the CO’s do their jobs. The management makes it hard for us to follow the policies that are in writing at all costs.
“returning citizen”
A man or woman coming home from a tour in Iraq or Afghanistan is a returning citizen. These guys are ex-cons.
Criminals a more accurate term. Most will be back in jail very soon after release
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