As a mother of an AIC (adult in custody) I carry great angst about our son’s eventual return to the streets. “The streets" is just prison jargon for anywhere outside of the prison or correctional institution compound. It confounds me to no end that a felony conviction sticks for life. Yes, there are ways to have it expunged if one qualifies. Before we had a son and a life mixed up in the broth of the DOC we too would have accepted and not questioned the wisdom of this practice. It just is and will be and maybe those people should have thought twice before they acted the fool and committed a crime. We had no ties to a criminal and lived our lives unaffected by the consequences that accompany such a felony conviction. I’ve attempted some research into the basis for this practice and haven’t found out much other than there are a lot of questions about the rights of formerly incarcerated felons. I’ve come to a conclusion. A conclusion based on what I haven’t been able to find but based on the deeply ingrained human need to shame and grind down to a pulp an offender. In this case, an offender being someone who goes outside the boundaries and partakes in what our society deems to be despicable behavior. Everyday since birth we’ve been fed spoonfuls of b.s. Every culture, micro-culture, community has been fed the pablum of disgust or abhorrence for those who are different or those that made a grave error in judgement. The list could go on and on defining this fare that shapes and forms our views on just about any object or subject. From this we create our opinions, our likes and our dislikes. We declare who and what we accept and who and what we disdain. How much of this is based on experience rather than what we’ve been taught I do not know. My conclusion is that the felon for life sticks because law enforcement now has a ready-made pool of suspects should a crime occur. If, in 2023, a robbery occurs within 5 miles of our son’s home and the perp is a dark colored fella about so tall and weighing about so much and the cops ain’t got shit for leads they’ll start looking at the formerly incarcerated. My son will need an alibi. He’ll never be truly free. He’ll be part of the pool of possible suspects for a long time until he finally grows old and they tire of paying visits to the guy who did his time and turned his life in the right direction.
What would happen if we loosened up some and started giving a boost to the formerly incarcerated? I’m well aware that there are some truly scary incarcerated folk and trust that society will be kept safe. I’m talking about the kids who goofed up. I’m talking about those who realize their error and want to move on after serving their time. The time served is their punishment but we won’t let it stop there by god. I’m talking about an innocent person who served time for someone else or for a fabricated crime. These people can’t be trusted! Who can be trusted though? Can you trust the guy at the burger joint not to sprinkle your sandwich with his earwax? But these people need a boost. They need a chance. It’s cheaper and kinder to integrate them back into society and to support their quest to be an accepted participant in their community. Let’s give a boost and lessen the more accepted practices of inflicting hardships and hurdles and hoops on those who more often than not re-enter society with very little.
Our son, thank goodness, has a supportive network of family and friends who only want him back in our lives fulfilling his purpose. I know this man and I know he is chock full of qualities and abilities that if used properly will propel him into a future of great personal success. But wait, he’s a felon so let’s make it hard for him to rent, to buy, to vote! Let’s make it hard for him to get decent employment and provide for himself and his family. Why not? He’s easy pickins!
But what can I do? I can continue to support him and be there always for him. I can advise and steer him towards wholesome and healthy ideas. I can celebrate with him and be sad with him. I can ask about his inside friends. I can and will continue to treat him as somebody that matters in the scheme of things. He went off track for a bit no doubt but he’s getting himself righted and is ready to jump back in and be the person he was meant to be on this earth.
Back to the ready-made pool of suspects created for law enforcement. Watch a crime show and you will see that some of the first suspects are those who are already in the system, the pool. How many times is that formerly incarcerated person the true perp? It makes a darn good show when he or she is and we get to say, “I knew it.” RMG
