Second Chance Act Now Law
13 April 2008The following press release was circulated April 10th, 2008, by UAA’s Justice Center and by the Alaska Coalition for Prisoner Re-Entry:
WASHINGTON, April 9 (UPI) — U.S. President George W. Bush Wednesday signed the Second Chance Act, saying the legislation will help prisoners “reclaim their lives.” The act authorizes the administration’s Prison Re-entry Program, which expands job training and placement services, to help ex-prisoners find transitional housing. It also provides mentoring, including help from faith-based groups, Bush said during the signing ceremony.
“Our government has a responsibility to help prisoners to return as contributing members of their community,” Bush said. Most of the assistance provided for in the legislation happens in faith-based communities and community-based groups, he said.
“The bill I’m signing today,” Bush said, “will build on work to help prisoners reclaim their lives. In other words, it basically says: ‘We’re standing with you, not against you.’” During the past three years, congressional appropriations supported a series of pilot programs in 20 states, Bush said.
For More information you can contact the Justice Center at http://justicecenter.csg.org/
Martha Plotkin: (240) 482-8579, mplotkin@csg.org
Kathy Lynch (240) 482-8583, klynch@csg.org
In addition, Wikipedia provides quite a bit of useful background about this bill. For example:
The primary arguments made by Rep. Rangel and supporters of the bill have been economic: by forcing all federal ex-offenders, including those who only offended once, those convicted of non-violent crimes, and those whose offense may have occurred years or even decades ago) to reveal their status to prospective employers severely limits their job opportunities after release. In many cases, this lack of job stability perpetuates a cycle of poverty and other forms of disenfranchisement, becoming a major contributor to recidivism, which in turn increases demands on the resources of the federal prison system and drives up costs. The goal of the legislation would be to reward non-violent felons for good behavior and a demonstrated desire and commitment to rehabilitating themselves by assisting them in re-establishing themselves as full members of their communities. Expunging criminal records would carry other benefits as well, removing or dramatically minimizing obstacles towards obtaining housing, education, and the restoration of voting rights.
Another point raised by Rangel has been that serious problems with the federal justice system, such as mandatory minimum sentencing laws, which he alleges are responsible for sending a disproportionate number of women and minorities to prison, could be combated through his bill by making it easier for offenders to move on after their release, rather than being continually reminded of, and being forced to pay, for their past crimes.
The Coalition has regular meetings around the issues of prisoner
re-entry in Alaska. You can find out more by contacting Jerry
Richardson at Nine Star Education & Employment Services, Coalition
for Prisoner Re-Entry, 907-644-8259.