Re:Seattle judges throw out 15 years of marijuana convictions
by izzydata on Friday September 28, 2018 @09:50AM
(#18093301)
"why we have such a high recidivism rate in the states."
Probably for the same reason. We never give them a fair chance afterward.
Re:Seattle judges throw out 15 years of marijuana convictions
by JoeAltmaier on Friday September 28, 2018 @09:53AM
(#18093326)
A fair chance includes a difficult employment ecosystem for everybody. Even a fair chance, likely means they'll be unemployed.
Re:Seattle judges throw out 15 years of marijuana convictions
by izzydata on Friday September 28, 2018 @09:58AM
(#18093373)
I don't disagree, but I am skeptical that they received the same chance as someone without a criminal record. Whether intentional or not there is probably some bias in the hiring process when you know they committed a felony or whatever it may be.
Re:Seattle judges throw out 15 years of marijuana convictions
by frockington on Friday September 28, 2018 @10:40AM
(#18093733)
Two identical candidates, but one has a criminal past, you're going to take the non-criminal record every time. As unfair as it is in the larger picture, it's hard to justify the decision to hire a criminal when it's your neck on the line
Re:Seattle judges throw out 15 years of marijuana convictions
by monocasa on Friday September 28, 2018 @01:33PM
(#18095237)
There's more going on than that. A white man with a felony has about the same employment responses as a black man with a clean record.
http://ac360.blogs.cnn.com/2008/08/09/study-black-man-and-wh...
Re:Seattle judges throw out 15 years of marijuana convictions
by mulmen on Friday September 28, 2018 @11:26AM
(#18094158)
You seem to have restated the problem.
Surely the decision should be based on the likelihood of future criminal action. If a criminal past is accepted as an indicator of future criminal activity then we have rejected the concept of rehabilitation. If this is the only deciding factor we may also blind ourselves to other risks.
Re:Seattle judges throw out 15 years of marijuana convictions
by sdegutis on Friday September 28, 2018 @09:30AM
(#18093133)
> if our society honestly believed they had been redeemed they would not need the label
That assumes that "society" is correctly and fully informed on the issue. Sex offenders have one of the lowest recidivism rate compared to other crimes. Plus it is a diverse category with many different types of situations all lumped into the same connotation in people's minds.
Re:Seattle judges throw out 15 years of marijuana convictions
by vondur on Friday September 28, 2018 @12:52PM
(#18094861)
I’ve heard in certain cases that people who’ve been caught urinating in public have been charged as sex offenders. Surely that’s not what these laws were intended to punish.
Re:Seattle judges throw out 15 years of marijuana convictions
by sdegutis on Friday September 28, 2018 @01:00PM
(#18094935)
The three main things people seem to think of when they think "sex offender" is (1) an 18 year old slept with his 16 year old girlfriend (2) urinating in public and (3) child molester or rapist. There's a lot more situations, and the research shows that they all need to be handled differently, and that the current laws are much less effective than ones actually geared towards rehabilitation would be, at keeping our neighborhoods safe.
The plan should be how can we get people who have been convicted to find ways to signal that they are rehabilitated. Otherwise, companies will avoid the risk of hiring a criminal and the liability of the lawsuit that might occur if said criminal commits another crime and the company is sued for hiring someone who had committed that crime before.