Unfortunately “adequate support to help people reintegrate so going back to crime isn’t their best option” looks a lot like “rewarding criminals” to a good portion of the electorate. Maybe in part because social services in general are so bad that anything at all looks like a lot of aid.

Dunno if it’s still the case but I at one point a tax guy asked me if I’d been convicted of (IIRC) any drug offenses because if I had I’d have been ineligible for certain education-related tax assistance. Dafuq? Yes let’s make it even harder for people to do something other than dealing drugs, when they get out. That makes a ton of sense.

I recently tried to buy travel insurance. I had to check a box that I'd never been suspected of criminal activities, even if I was found to not be guilty (!), otherwise I wouldn't have been allowed to buy the insurance.

This was in the Netherlands, btw.

Hi Vinnl! I hereby inform you that I suspect you have committed a crime at some point.

Congratulations you are now ineligible >:]

The ultimate free lunch in insurance.

That’s weird. I’ve never been convicted of anything, but I was a suspect once, briefly. It’s funny to realize that could actually impact my life in any way.

Also, I wonder how the insurance company would ever know someone was a suspect, if they weren’t arrested. Sometimes, suspects don’t even realize they’re suspects.

I don't think there able to know - after all, I had to manually tick the box.