To get ex-offenders back to work and reduce crime, Illinois needs to lift restrictions on the right to earn a living .
Should a teenage crime of desperation shackle an ex-offender for life? This is the question facing Illinois state politicians, who, due to a law they passed in 2011, must reckon with the likes of Lisa Creason, a 43-year-old mother from Decatur, Illinois. By all accounts, Lisa Creason is a respected member of her community. She’s...
How to reform a broken criminal-justice system that prevents ex-offenders from achieving self-sufficiency
A court decision involving the government’s seizure of more than $270,000 from two Chicagoans highlights major problems with civil asset forfeiture.
Even a very small reduction in recidivism – just 5 percent – would save Illinois taxpayers nearly $187 million over nine years. But if Illinois’ recidivism rate stays the same, taxpayers will pay approximately $5.7 billion for recidivism costs over the next five years.
Without a job, an ex-offender is likely to re-enter the system. Finding work breaks that cycle. Illinois needs major re-entry reforms that remove barriers to employment and work – and give ex-offenders a chance at success.
HB 5973 would remove significant occupational-licensing barriers that make it harder for former offenders to support themselves and their families.
“The gang initiation happened when I was 12 years old. That was my fist experience with drug and alcohol abuse, and from that day until I was 28 I struggled with addiction. “In spite of that struggle I was still the president of my grammar school and my high school, and I started my career...
Letting nonviolent former offenders petition to have their records sealed and protecting businesses from negligent-hiring lawsuits would do more to encourage hiring ex-offenders than “ban the box” alone.
“The reason why I wear the jumpsuit is symbolic. “And it’s stark, but this is the thing: You see me today dressed in this business suit. I can go anywhere downtown. The way I talk, the way I look, I will have no problems. No one’s going to ask me to get on the ground....
Illinois needs much more in the way of reforms if state politicians are going to truly fix the state’s broken criminal-justice system.
A new study by The Pew Charitable Trusts shows states that adjusted their felony theft laws have not seen an increase in crime. To save on corrections costs, Illinois should update its theft thresholds, too.