The Labor Force the Globe Would Love to See

While I do not oppose this program in theory, I was just wondering why the BG cares more about convicts than our own schools and children.

I've given up trying to dissect every agenda-pushing angle they are playing these days, readers. It all ends in the same place -- AmeriKan tyranny!

"A second chance for ex-cons

August 6, 2008

EX-OFFENDERS can face a grim choice: Get low-wage jobs that don't pay the bills or commit better-paying crimes - such as selling drugs - that could land them back in jail. They need better options.

Governor Patrick sought to help with a bill that would reform the state's Criminal Offender Record Information system by sealing criminal records sooner, so that job candidates wouldn't be dogged by past crimes. (This would not apply to sex offenders.)

And the first time some murderer or rapist falls through the cracks?

The bill died at the end of the legislative session. "We just ran out time," Patrick said. He predicts it will be a priority next session.

But legislation is just one avenue of help for ex-offenders.

"We want people to look at the ex-offender differently," says Benjamin Thompson, the former executive director of STRIVE/Boston Employment Service, a local nonprofit. He points to the short-sightedness of imagining that every ex-offender is a violent time bomb, when in fact many have committed nonviolent crimes for what he calls "economic reasons."

Thompson also thinks ex-offenders have to be willing to say, "I'm going to work as hard as I've sinned." So STRIVE is using a $58,000 federal grant to send 14 ex-offenders to Bunker Hill Community College. They'll hold jobs and take two classes.

And yet our kids' schools are shuttered and unemployment is on the rise!

Ex-offenders who earn at least $15 an hour, Thompson says, make better decisions about their lives.

That's MORE THAN ME!!!!!!!!!!

Once CORI reform is in place, lawmakers should call for more ex-offender college programs and job placement assistance. Philanthropists could provide funds to expand the program and cover unexpected bills for basics such as healthcare.

With support, ex-offenders could become community staples: strong workers, parents, and taxpayers."

While the powers-that-be destroy same.