Right now, it is 4:00 in the morning and I cannot sleep. I am very jealous of the man snoring on the couch next to me as I write this, who is blissfully unaware that I am roaming the house in the wee hours of the morning.
I just finished reading this here website regarding myths and facts about the Clean Slate bill in New York. It was just signed into legislation the other day, to much celebration from my husband.
Mark is a former convict, which is something he does not shy away from discussing. He believes it to have been a formative part of his life, for better or worse, and is not ashamed of the fact that he spent time in prison. The circumstances of his conviction have always been an issue, as he was tried as an adult for crimes committed as a juvenile. He served 3 years in state prison, before moving to Buffalo for a work program. He has lived here ever since, without any trouble.
However, he has had a difficult time finding work for most of his life. At first, it was a criminal record that he had to disclose on job applications. He rarely got call backs on those jobs, and eventually started avoiding the topic whenever he could.
After 7 years, his criminal record stopped showing up on background checks, but could still be accessed if a company wanted to dig deeper. Earlier in our relationship, he considered going back to school, but when he spoke with a recruiter at ECC, they told him that due to his criminal background he would have many more hoops to jump through. This discouraged him, and he returned to the manufacturing work that he knows how to do.
Unfortunately, because of my husband’s prison background, he has been held back from many opportunities. To be honest, the Clean Slate bill may not affect us very much, but for him it is a reform he believes in- Mark and I are big advocates for prison reform. There should be no private prisons, there should be no low-level drug offenders living in them, and rehabilitation should be the focus, not punishment. The only good thing prison did for my husband was get him a GED- everything else, every bit of rehabilitation, he managed to do on his own.
Before my mom died, she was adamant about finding a way to get Mark’s record expunged. I am sure it will cost a lot of money that we do not have, I’m sure it will take time and energy, and maybe someday we can do it…but for now, this is a small victory according to my husband, for himself and all those unable to find jobs and housing due to their criminal record. We send people to prison to serve their time, and we release them when we believe they have been rehabilitated, so why do we continue to punish them when they try to become viable members of society again? This has always been my question, and no one has ever given me the right answer, but this is at least a small step in the right direction.
Ham 'N Eggs- by Brigid Hannon 