Category: Policy

Leaked White House memos detail president’s pardon policy

USA Today has published a White House document detailing President Obama’s policy on granting clemency, including both sentence commutation and post-sentence pardons.  In a memorandum dated July 13, 2010 to the Acting Deputy Attorney General, White House Counsel Robert Bauer “convey[ed] the President’s views” on the exercise of his constitutional pardon power, affirming traditional standards but emphasizing that there are “certain offenses for which a pardon should very rarely, if ever, be granted absent truly exceptional circumstances.”  Among these were “large-scale drug trafficking” in which the applicant had “a significant role,” and financial fraud cases involving “substantial loss to the federal government or its programs.” The memo affirmed the five-year eligibility waiting period for a pardon, overriding a 2001 policy of the Bush Administration (also published for the first time) that imposed an informal 10-year waiting period.  At the same time, it emphasized that the passage of additional time may strengthen an applicant’s case for pardon: The recentness of the offense should be evaluated in the context of the entire application, including the offense’s seriousness, The President believes, however, that where more time has passed since conviction or release, applications will tend to be stronger, in part because the extended time period provides a greater opportunity for the applicant to establish exemplary post-conviction conduct and demonstrate true acceptance of responsibility, remorse and atonement. In fact, the USA Today article points out that only five of Obama’s 64 pardons were granted within 15 years of an individual’s eligibility.  With respect to commutations, the memo expresses a policy of parsimony: The President agrees with the Department’s view that a commutation of sentence is an extraordinary remedy that should be granted only in extraordinary circumstances. The President further believes that the guidance governing offenses for which there should be a presumption against pardons applies with even greater force to applications for commutation. The USA Today article notes apparent inconsistencies between the 2010 Bauer memo and the President’s more recent comments about what he is seeking from Justice in terms of clemency recommendations.  It remains to be seen how these comments will play out in the months ahead, and in particular whether he will grant more commutations while post-sentence pardons remain at an all-time low. Read more

Collateral consequences and the transforming effect of the drug war

Amid last week’s torrent of commentary about the downstream effects of the punitive policies of the 1990s came this extraordinary interview with David Simon of the Wire, who attributes the breakdown of community in Baltimore to the aggressive abuse of official discretion in the drug war.  While Simon’s remarks are not directly related to collateral consequences, it is not hard to trace to the same source the regime of punitive laws and policies that now bars people with a criminal record from benefits and opportunities affecting literally every aspect of daily life. Case in point, from an NPR report aired last week: Tyrone Peake, trained as a drug counselor, is barred for life from working at a nursing home or long-term care facility in the State of Pennsylvania because of his 1981 teenage conviction for attempted car theft for which he received probation.  See Carrie Johnson, “Can’t Get A Job Because Of A Criminal Record? A Lawsuit Is Trying To Change That,” April 30, 2015. Dismantling what Jack Chin has called “the new civil death,” like rebuilding trust between police and community, is the work of the next decade. Read more

Vermont becomes the 16th state to ban the box!

On April 22 Vermont became the 16th state to remove the question about criminal record from most state employment applications.   By Executive Order of Governor Peter Shumlin, people applying for most state jobs will not be required to undergo a background check until after they have been deemed qualified and offered an interview.       http://pagead2.googlesyndication.com/pagead/osd.jshttp://api.bounceexchange.com/bounce/init1.js?tojQ=function&tzo=240&is_preview=false&website_id=914&resolution=1112×770&referrer=&calling_url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.burlingtonfreepress.com%2Fstory%2Fnews%2Fpolitics%2F2015%2F04%2F21%2Fvermont-criminal-history-ban-box%2F26141535%2F&visit_cookie=%7B%22lp%22%3A%22http%253A%252F%252Fwww.burlingtonfreepress.com%252Fstory%252Fnews%252Fpolitics%252F2015%252F04%252F21%252Fvermont-criminal-history-ban-box%252F26141535%252F%22%2C%22r%22%3A%22%22%7D&cookie=%7B%22v%22%3A%7B%22bx_click_url%22%3A0%2C%22bx_click_cid%22%3A0%2C%22pre_conv_url%22%3A%22http%3A//www.burlingtonfreepress.com/story/news/politics/2015/04/21/vermont-criminal-history-ban-box/26141535/%22%2C%22referrer%22%3A0%2C%22article_count%22%3A2%2C%22article_url%22%3A%22http%3A//www.burlingtonfreepress.com/story/news/politics/2015/04/21/vermont-criminal-history-ban-box/26141535/%22%7D%2C%22fvt%22%3A1422053351%2C%22vid%22%3A1430147252843978%2C%22ao%22%3A0%2C%22as%22%3A0%2C%22vpv%22%3A1%2C%22d%22%3A%22d%22%2C%22lp%22%3A%22http%253A%252F%252Fwww.burlingtonfreepress.com%252Fstory%252Fnews%252Fpolitics%252F2015%252F04%252F21%252Fvermont-criminal-history-ban-box%252F26141535%252F%22%2C%22r%22%3A%22%22%2C%22cvt%22%3A1430147252%2C%22gcr%22%3A65%2C%22m%22%3A0%2C%22lvt%22%3A1430147252%2C%22ibxt%22%3A%22MTQyMjA1Mjc0Nzg2OTA5Mg%253D%253D%22%2C%22sid%22%3A0%7D&vars%5Bsubscription%5D=none&vars%5Bbx_click_url%5D=0&vars%5Bbx_click_cid%5D=0&vars%5Bpre_conv_url%5D=http%3A//www.burlingtonfreepress.com/story/news/politics/2015/04/21/vermont-criminal-history-ban-box/26141535/&vars%5Breferrer%5D=0&vars%5Bpaymentcard%5D=false&vars%5Blogged_in%5D=false&vars%5Barticle_visible%5D=true&vars%5Barticle_count%5D=2&vars%5Barticle_url%5D=http%3A//www.burlingtonfreepress.com/story/news/politics/2015/04/21/vermont-criminal-history-ban-box/26141535/&vars%5Barticle_change%5D=0&vars%5Bgravity_ad_show%5D=false&vars%5B/neil-young-play-first-show-vermont%5D=false&vars%5B/winooski-rejects-new-obriens-liquor-license%5D=false&vars%5B/winooski-will-join-lawsuit%5D=false&vars%5B/vermont-finishers-boston-marathon%5D=false&vars%5B/neil-young-fans-line-tickets%5D=false&vdef%5Bbx_click_url%5D=0&vdef%5Bbx_click_cid%5D=0&vdef%5Bpre_conv_url%5D=0&vdef%5Breferrer%5D=0&vdef%5Barticle_count%5D=0&vdef%5Barticle_url%5D=0 “When we hire in-state, the first question will not be whether you’ve been convicted or arrested,” Shumlin said. “We will hold that question until the interview and give you a chance to qualify for the job for which you’ve applied.” About 8 percent of people seeking Vermont state jobs checked the criminal history box last year, according to the state Human Resources Commission.   Certain sensitive and law enforcement positions are excepted. In remarks at a signing ceremony, Shumlin and a key lawmaker said they were “waiting to see” if private employers ought also to be required to postpone inquiry into a job applicant’s criminal record. Governor Shumlin also reported that the Vermont legislature is “nearly finished” with a bill to allow more Vermonters to expunge criminal convictions from their records, including for youthful offenses.  Last year Vermont enacted the Uniform Collateral Consequences of Conviction Act, which authorizes courts to relieve mandatory collateral sanctions, and gives employers a measure of protection against liability for negligent hiring. Important support for the ban-the-box order came from T.J. Donovan, Crittenden County State’s Attorney: This is about reconciliation.  No prosecutor or judge expects a petty larceny or minor theft conviction to keep an offender from ever getting a job again.  Many times we don’t consider what that scarlet letter or that conviction is going to do to folks three, five, 10 years down the road. Some states, including Illinois, Hawaii and New Jersey, have passed laws that prohibit private employers from asking about criminal histories on job applications.  A committee of the Vermont House is is considering a similar bill, and Shumlin said “it’s worth a look”: “I would hope that by the state leading by example, that many private employers might adopt the same policy,” Shumlin said. “I know that’s happening in other states around the country.” “The state’s experience with this with state workers will help inform our process as we move forward with it in the future,” said Rep. Helen Head, D-South Burlington, chairwoman of the House labor committee. Read more

Is suspension of driving privileges an effective way to collect unpaid fines?

No, according to a recent study of efforts to enforce monetary judgments in a Milwaukee municipal court and to a national organization with expertise in traffic safety. The Justice Initiative Institute reviewed non-criminal, municipal cases from 2008-2013 in which the Milwaukee court had ordered the detention of defendants for not having paid fines. Not surprisingly, the report shows that most people who fail to pay fines have little if any income (a majority of those detained were unemployed). Therefore, although the prospect of sanctions might encourage payment by a population with greater financial resources, the use of incarceration for non-payment ends up costing the City of Milwaukee more than any additional amount of fines collected. In addition to imprisonment for non-payment, the municipal court frequently uses suspension of driving privileges as a sanction. This consequence for non-payment is used even for non-traffic offenses, and it can last for two years. Also, because of the fees and procedural steps to reinstate driving privileges, a suspension may result in loss of privileges for much longer than the announced two-year period. The Milwaukee report cites a national estimate that about 75% of suspended and revoked drivers continue to drive, which results in many of them accumulating additional court cases and fines. Also, although a licensed driver has an incentive to comply with traffic laws (to retain his or her driving privileges), this incentive is arguably diminished when for economic reasons a person has no ability to obtain a license. The Milwaukee report quotes the conclusion of the American Association of Motor Vehicle Administrators that license suspensions should be focused on highway safety and that their use for unrelated reasons diminishes both public safety and respect for the laws that are designed to promote traffic safety. You can view the full study at this link. Read more

Federal fair chance hiring proposal advances

The following note was received today from the National Employment Law Project: We wanted to report back on the exciting progress in support of the federal fair chance hiring initiative, which builds on the momentum from the sign-on letter to the President that your organizations endorsed. On March 25th, representatives from NELP, All of Us or None, PICO National Network and the Southern Coalition for Social Justice met with White House and Labor Department officials to present the letter signed by nearly 200 organizations and urge immediate federal action.  The news about the sign-on letter and the White House meeting was covered in an excellent exclusive that appeared in Politico (check it out) the day of the meeting.  The sign-on letter was also featured in an op-ed by a Florida small business owner (and a member of our partners at the Main Street Alliance) in The Guardian, in an NNPA syndicated story picked up by several news outlets, as well as in a National Law Review story. In addition, thanks to the active engagement of your organizations, the social media around the initiative is also picking up steam. The Facebook image (attached) produced over 60,000 views, and it was shared by nearly 1,000 people.  During the one-hour “tweet storm” on the 25th, there were 250 unique tweets using the #FairChance or #BanTheBox hashtags (a special shout out goes to Danny Glover, whose tweet led the way with most retweets).  In just a few short months, we’re building a serious social media following thanks again to all of you. Based on the feedback we received at the meetings on the 25th, all the support from your organizations, the press and the social media is getting the Administration’s attention – they have made clear that they are taking a serious look at the proposal to issue an Executive Order and Presidential Memo to extend fair chance hiring/ban the box to federal contractors and the federal hiring process.   Now, it’s all about  continuing to build the grassroots and public pressure to move the Administration to act.  Your continued active involvement is critical to the success of the effort. On another positive note, we wanted to also share the news that Virginia Governor McAuliffe issued a strong executive order today extending fair chance hiring to all state positions (and urging the private sector to do the same).  McAuliffe’s action got the attention of Valerie Jarrett, President Obama’s Senior Advisor, who tweeted out her support using the #BantheBox hashtag.  Please take minute to retweet it as well. Thanks again everyone for all your amazing support! We’ll be in touch soon with more details and next steps. Best, Maurice Maurice Emsellem, Director Access and Opportunity Program National Employment Law Project (510) 663-5700 Read more