Corrections_Today_September_October_2019_Vol.81_No.5

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men and women have no income, they violate their conditions of child support and an arrest warrant is filed. Unless someone is advocating for this person, when they do not show for the child support violation hearing, a bench warrant may be issued. This warrant remains in existence and when the person is released, local police may arrest the person for the failure to appear, and the cycle continues. Again, this is an area where many times the right advocate may be able to work with the courts to develop a plan for the released offender to meet their obligations. But it takes someone who knows the system, like an advocacy group or private counsel, to ameliorate. And as with everything else, most of the amelioration is about the relationships those advocating have with the criminal justice actors. Now we move on to collateral consequences which are civil penalties for criminal conviction. There are many areas of collateral consequences for the one in four Americans who have a criminal record. Some include expungement, disenfranchisement, access to weapons, but particularly for those being released from confinement, the collateral consequences surrounding employment, housing and educational access make successful reintegration back to society more difficult. Many jurisdictions have employment restrictions either imposed by legislatures or licensing entities, and some have a nexus to public safety.

None of us would want a pedophile to be able to work in a childcare center. A residency restriction for this same pedophile would limit where he might live. And while not a research-based decision, it is tough to argue against the public safety needs of our children. But just as likely is a restriction which requires a review beyond the norm to receive a license to cut hair. And if there is a drug conviction involved, public universities may prohibit or limit financial aid. Edelman correctly points out poor people of color often do not have the resources or support to navigate the bureaucratic hoops which must be jumped through to be able to obtain employment or access housing or education. It is quite clear that those who are otherwise qualified, (often trained while in prison) but do not have support, find themselves in a low-end job without health benefits. A good friend of mine who retired as a probation officer would say everything would be OK until a financial crisis occurred, and then the released offender goes back to doing what they know best in order to resolve the crisis. All of the issues discussed, from money bail to the criminalization of the mentally ill, to collateral consequences have real impact upon corrections, confinement and the staff and offenders involved. Because of a personal interest in diverting juveniles from being criminalized, a moment to speak toward school suspensions. While this subject has received a lot of attention in the past

few years, it remains that schools no longer manage issues which they would have 20 years ago. The zero tolerance prohibitions introduced by many school districts cause juveniles to have petitions for adjudication filed by schools or school resource officers. Unlike Edelman, I am a fan of school resource officers if they are trained to work with children not to criminalize but to maintain accountability. The issue pointed out over and over in this book is that those most affected by the issues discussed do not have the resources or advocacy to address them. Many of my colleagues have related the social justice advocacy which is outlined in Edelman’s book is “Pollyannaish,” and if you do the crime, you must deal with the consequences. The issue pointed out over and over in this book is that those most affected by the issues discussed do not have the resources or advocacy to address them. Many would also say, corrections professionals should not become involved in these processes, it is the offender’s responsibility. And for many years I could not have agreed more,

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