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February 19, 2007
CORI Should Not Be A Life Sentence
[ Originally published on: Saturday, February 17, 2007 ]
To the editor:
Daily Hampshire Gazette, Northampton, MA
I fully support Gov. Deval Patrick's first step in remedying a major barrier to building a life after incarceration. That is the excessively punitive and counterproductive CORI system. CORI laws and practices create almost insurmountable obstacles to obtain work and access housing for people who were incarcerated, usually the poor and especially African American and Latino men and women. There are now over 10,000 businesses, organizations and agencies that have access to CORI, compared to 2,000 in 1993. These 10,000 are in addition to the thousands of schools, hospitals and child care centers mandated to check CORIs.
On Feb. 14, both your editorial and another related story appeared on the front page of The New York Times. Their article detailed that 8,129 waivers were given by the Army to people with serious misdemeanors and felony convictions - almost double the number from 2003. Because almost all other doors are closed to people with CORIs, the armed services have become an employer of last resort. The Army has recognized that the CORI-type systems provide a recruiting opportunity for them as they struggle to enlist men and women unwilling to be sent to Iraq possibly to die or be seriously wounded. Is this the only option that should be available to people who were charged and perhaps convicted of a crime 10 or 15 years ago?
If the U.S. Army believes that people with felony and misdemeanors convictions are fit to serve, hopefully employers will follow their lead and support the modest reform that Governor Patrick is recommending. If passed, this would mean that only information about past arrests and convictions relevant to the position the person is seeking be given to prospective employers. As Boston Mayor Thomas Menino said: "CORI should not be a life sentence."
Lois Ahrens
Northampton
Posted by lois at February 19, 2007 01:09 PM