07-30-2015, 08:01 PM
Below is a large excerpt from today's announcement by Loretta Lynch, referenced in the post above.
![[Image: n-LORETTA-LYNCH-large570.jpg]](http://i.huffpost.com/gen/3247954/images/n-LORETTA-LYNCH-large570.jpg)
Each year, more than 600,000 individuals are released from state and federal prisons, and over 11 million cycle through local jails. In addition, a broader population -- approximately one in three U.S. adults -- has an arrest record, mostly for relatively minor, non-violent offenses, and sometimes as a result of crimes committed decades in the past. The long-term -- sometimes lifetime -- impact of a criminal record will keep many of these people from obtaining employment, accessing housing, higher education, loans, and credit -- even if they have paid their debt to society, turned their lives around, and demonstrated that they are unlikely to reoffend. At the same time, research sponsored by the National Institute of Justice (NIJ) shows that individuals who stay out of trouble for just a few years after an arrest are largely indistinguishable from the general population in terms of their likelihood of committing a crime. Further, participation in pro-social behaviors like employment, education and civic engagement -- the very things that people with criminal records are often barred from participating in -- actually reduce recidivism.
As a lifelong prosecutor, I know understand how important it is to aggressively prosecute criminal behavior as a means of keeping our communities safe. But I also recognize that prosecution is only one aspect of a comprehensive justice system -- particularly when nearly every person behind bars will one day come home. In order to truly make our communities safer, we must make sure that people who have served their time are able to fully and productively engage in our society -- whether through education or employment or some other constructive means.
Listening to my colleagues on the Reentry Council discuss their commitment to this mission and their dedication to this cause makes me confident that we will continue to make progress. For example, Labor Secretary Tom Perez briefed the Reentry Council on DOL's new Linking Employment Activities Pre-release (LEAP) grants, which support the development and implementation of specialized American Job Centers inside the correctional facility that directly connect local inmates to the full-service AJC within their community. Providing incarcerated individuals with a range of workforce services while they transition out of local correctional facilities better prepares them to reenter the workforce and improves their opportunities for finding suitable employment immediately upon release.
Although the path ahead of us is far from easy, there is momentum -- across federal agencies, across political parties, and across the United States -- to reform our criminal justice system and give people a legitimate chance to earn their way back and lead law-abiding lives. Working with my colleagues, I look forward to continuing the good work of the Reentry Council and taking concrete steps to achieve the president's vision for meaningful criminal justice reform.
Full announcement: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/loretta-ly...05620.html
Each year, more than 600,000 individuals are released from state and federal prisons, and over 11 million cycle through local jails. In addition, a broader population -- approximately one in three U.S. adults -- has an arrest record, mostly for relatively minor, non-violent offenses, and sometimes as a result of crimes committed decades in the past. The long-term -- sometimes lifetime -- impact of a criminal record will keep many of these people from obtaining employment, accessing housing, higher education, loans, and credit -- even if they have paid their debt to society, turned their lives around, and demonstrated that they are unlikely to reoffend. At the same time, research sponsored by the National Institute of Justice (NIJ) shows that individuals who stay out of trouble for just a few years after an arrest are largely indistinguishable from the general population in terms of their likelihood of committing a crime. Further, participation in pro-social behaviors like employment, education and civic engagement -- the very things that people with criminal records are often barred from participating in -- actually reduce recidivism.
As a lifelong prosecutor, I know understand how important it is to aggressively prosecute criminal behavior as a means of keeping our communities safe. But I also recognize that prosecution is only one aspect of a comprehensive justice system -- particularly when nearly every person behind bars will one day come home. In order to truly make our communities safer, we must make sure that people who have served their time are able to fully and productively engage in our society -- whether through education or employment or some other constructive means.
Listening to my colleagues on the Reentry Council discuss their commitment to this mission and their dedication to this cause makes me confident that we will continue to make progress. For example, Labor Secretary Tom Perez briefed the Reentry Council on DOL's new Linking Employment Activities Pre-release (LEAP) grants, which support the development and implementation of specialized American Job Centers inside the correctional facility that directly connect local inmates to the full-service AJC within their community. Providing incarcerated individuals with a range of workforce services while they transition out of local correctional facilities better prepares them to reenter the workforce and improves their opportunities for finding suitable employment immediately upon release.
Although the path ahead of us is far from easy, there is momentum -- across federal agencies, across political parties, and across the United States -- to reform our criminal justice system and give people a legitimate chance to earn their way back and lead law-abiding lives. Working with my colleagues, I look forward to continuing the good work of the Reentry Council and taking concrete steps to achieve the president's vision for meaningful criminal justice reform.
Full announcement: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/loretta-ly...05620.html