Should a conviction still be allowed to hold ex-felons back?

[DrPhil]

Originally Posted by DaemonSeid

yeah...how 'bout that?

But here is the simple common sense of it all: felons come in all shapes sizes ages and colors.

That's very "we are the (prison) world" and it's comparable to saying "always lock your doors because you never know who is going to get you." That's wonderful and smart advice.

But, it doesn't erase the fact that there are demographic trends in the population of felony offenders just as there are trends in the types of offenses committed, where they are committed, and who the victims are for the victim-based offenses (routine activities-based).

The above fact is another reason why research is important. "Common sense" means very little and people's "common sense" often doesn't reflect reality.

[DaemonSeid]

Originally Posted by DrPhil

That's very "we are the (prison) world" and it's comparable to saying "always lock your doors because you never know who is going to get you." That's wonderful and smart advice.

But, it doesn't erase the fact that there are demographic trends in the population of felony offenders just as there are trends in the types of offenses committed, where they are committed, and who the victims are for the victim-based offenses (routine activities-based).

The above fact is another reason why research is important. "Common sense" means very little and people's "common sense" often doesn't reflect reality.

Yeah...case in point...one of my female co workers got a ride from a stranger into work @ 530am this morning...why? Because he 'looked nice" and her shoe broke and she wasn't 6 blocks with a broken shoe.

[DrPhil]

Originally Posted by DaemonSeid

Yeah...case in point...one of my female co workers got a ride from a stranger into work @ 530am this morning...why? Because he 'looked nice" and her shoe broke and she wasn't 6 blocks with a broken shoe.

She's dumb. It reminds me of the woman in the news this morning who let a homeless man borrow her Platinum card. LUCKILY (and surprisingly), he brought her card back after he bought some vitamin water and cigarettes. If he had not brought it back, the whole world would laugh at her as she calls the police and contacts her bank. There would be no sympathy for an idiot (good samaritan and generosity should never be confused with dumb).

Now that the tangent is over, LOL, I was moreso talking about people who base "common sense" on what they see in their day to day lives or things that they think about. It doesn't exist if they don't see it/know about it/think about it. For example, many people's "common sense" tells them that newer and "nicer" vehicles are the ones that are stolen when instead older models are more frequently stolen or have things stolen from them. So, people will leave older cars unguarded and also do things like leave their navigation systems on the windshield all of the time. People need to be smart and realize that the things that they assume based on "common sense" aren't always the case.

[DaemonSeid]

Originally Posted by DrPhil

She's dumb. It reminds me of the woman in the news this morning who let a homeless man borrow her Platinum card. LUCKILY (and surprisingly), he brought her card back after he bought some vitamin water and cigarettes. If he had not brought it back, the whole world would laugh at her as she calls the police and contacts her bank. There would be no sympathy for an idiot (good samaritan and generosity should never be confused with dumb).

Now that the tangent is over, LOL, I was moreso talking about people who base "common sense" on what they see in their day to day lives or things that they think about. It doesn't exist if they don't see it/know about it/think about it. For example, many people's "common sense" tells them that newer and "nicer" vehicles are the ones that are stolen when instead older models are more frequently stolen or have things stolen from them. So, people will leave older cars unguarded and also do things like leave their navigation systems on the windshield all of the time. People need to be smart and realize that the things that they assume based on "common sense" aren't always the case.

ASS U ME

hehehe

[preciousjeni]

In a previous position, I was responsible for preparing exoffenders for employment reentry. I also worked with employers to convince them to give these folks a chance.

My take is this. Take questions about convictions off applications. They serve no purpose but to facilitate immediate discrimination. After the interview, I don't have a problem with employers doing background checks on people.

I always advise ex-offenders to be open and honest about their past during the interview.

[sweetmagnolia]

Originally Posted by preciousjeni

Take questions about convictions off applications. They serve no purpose but to facilitate immediate discrimination. After the interview, I don't have a problem with employers doing background checks on people.

I always advise ex-offenders to be open and honest about their past during the interview.

This.

I don't want to throw a complete monkey wrench in the initial topic of this thread, but I think this is related (tangential, yes, but still related)- do you guys think that ex-felons should be allowed to vote? (Not being able to vote, imo, is holding people back).

From the Washington Post

On Election Day it will not matter to some 4.7 million Americans whether they are Republicans, Democrats, independents or whether they have an opinion on anything at all. Under various state laws, they are barred from voting because they have felony records. This includes not just prison inmates (48 states), parolees (33 states) and probationers (29 states) but also a large number of people -- one third of the disenfranchised in all -- who are off parole and "free." Minorities are hit particularly hard by these state laws: They deny 13 percent of African American men the vote.