Corrections_Today_September_October_2019_Vol.81_No.5

Communications & Publications

but as corrections has become more complex with many more ambiguities, who better to make sure while we make sure people confined are held accountable, who better than us to make sure persons who otherwise could not afford advocacy at least have a link to those who might provide advocacy. But as a society, can we continue to afford the dollar and cent cost of not finding ways to help? The second part of Edelman’s book is not about the issues caused by the criminalization of the poor, but about ending poverty. One of the chapters in this section relevant to correctional professionals is the chapter titled “Taking Criminal Justice Reform Seriously.” The author advocates for expungement of many convictions indicating that 9 out of 10 employers, 4 out of 5 landlords and 3 in 5 colleges use background checks. One of the areas I learned which exists in some states is that arrest records exist even when there is no conviction and become a part of the person’s “rap sheet.” Even when there is not a conviction, a rap sheet remains with the arrest and for those not familiar with a rap sheet, what is the difference? Edelman also advocates for expanding expungement for low level offenses and automatically sealing minor nonviolent cases where the person has not been convicted of any additional offenses after 10 years. Edelman’s bias for expungement shows in this chapter, but many of his

arguments merit review and in some cases adoption. Much of the rest of the book discusses “decarceration.” Basically, we have many people in prison and often these people are in prison because they do not have the means to hire someone to assist them. Further than that he argues to make civil cases out of offenses which are now criminal such as public drinking, public urination, littering, excessive noise and the like. It is suggested in New York City this would change 300,000 arrests to civil violations. The book goes on to review efforts made by non-profit organizations and not for profit organizations to provide advocacy or alternative accountability. Social justice is an integral part of criminal justice and for that reason as I said in the beginning this book

of keeping those in jail who pose a threat or are likely to abscond is certainly better than keeping people in jails for long periods of time because they do not have the resources to pay. Helping people in preventative mental health care is better than incarcerating those who are mentally ill with minor offenses, who end up because of their illness cycling through the system. But what was amazing about the second portion of the book was that these actions were not taken by government, they were taken by non-profits. We in corrections have been suspect of advocacy groups, and they of individuals who work in the justice sector; quite frankly, all of us need to get over this. We need to work on finding common ground to make the system better. A former colleague of mine, who many would label as “a crusty warden,” has, through his advocacy, looked for ways to break the cycle of incarceration through assisting incarcerated children with access to vocational and academic education. He has said over and over again that we need to stop over criminalizing and locking up people who do not need it. When we worked together, he was a colleague, now he is one of my heroes. He and people like Edelman, though much different in approach, tell us we all need to try to do better. Social justice is an integral part of criminal justice and for that reason as I said in the beginning this book needs to be read by all who work in the system. u

needs to be read by all who work in the system.

Many who are involved in the system would say this is just getting soft on crime. In most cases, this is simply not the truth. Changing minor violations to civil rather than criminal might even hold people more accountable. Using bail for the intent

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