The New “Scarlet Letter F”

Long, long ago the Scarlet Letter was an "A" symbolizing the act of adultery. Today the letter and the meaning has evolved into the letter "F" symbolizing the stigma placed on thousands of disenfranchised individuals who have been ostracized by society, denied the right to employment, housing, denied the right to life. Introducing the new “Scarlet Letter F”

I come to you all today with one thing on my mind…The plight of the “Felon”. When I first started this blog site I was at a loss for what to discuss regarding the plight of the felon but now as I sit here in front of my computer, I am infused with the desire to once again let the world know that ENOUGH IS ENOUGH!!!.

My husband and I have started a new campaign in regards to the empowerment of felons and disenfranchised individuals and together we have decided to launch our campaign for donations of financial support, business support and networking support in order to open up our transitional housing facility called Second Chance Alliance. What Second Chance Alliance will be is a place for those ex-offenders released from prison to call home. A place where they can parole to and begin to rebuild themselves first and then rebuild their lives and become responsible and productive members of society.

My husband and I have launched our campaign on donation websites which I will list at the bottom of this post, that we sincerely hope people, who like us, are passionate about seeing spring into action. We, once being in the same unfortunate predicament have decided to help others realize that just because society has deemed you as unworthy to be employed, or to be able to obtain housing or to live like anyone else is not what you must settle for.

Please visit our donation websites and read our story and decide for yourself. Help us to empower others to empower themselves…

https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/769980

http://link.email.dynect.net/link.php?H=qBOBTgXouCZdO5t3GY2KOjXlNMQdALHb%2FH7ZDewSQF39LdYMEXy%2BFW2FK8huWlqg15nrlx7lDaSg3hL%2BYyeZtf%2Bp4WIOX00W8%2BLidzrB%2FVQ%3D&G=21&R=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.gofundme.com%2FEmpowering-Felons&I=20140424034856.9B0417C4005B%40mail6-02-ewr&X=MHw3NzY2NjI6VEVNUElEXzQyOzF8Nzc2NjYzOlFVRVVFSURfMTAxMTYwOTE2Ow%3D%3D

Obama’s Crack Cocaine Commutations a Step in Right Direction…And Then What???

Thursday, 19 Dec 2013

Harvard Law Professor Alan Dershowitz praised President Barack Obama for commuting the sentences of eight crack cocaine offenders Thursday, and said he should begin using the process more.

Obama has not used his commutation and pardon power much during his presidency, and chose to do so in these cases because of the disparity of sentences between crack and powder cocaine. Most convicted of using crack cocaine are black, while most convicted of using powder cocaine are white.

The Fair Sentencing Act of 2010 cut those disparities, but the people whose sentences where commuted on Thursday were convicted prior to the law’s enactment. They likely would have gotten shorter sentences if convicted under the current law.

Thirteen others received pardons from Obama.

Okay, thank you President Obama… Now what do we do with these people who have been or will be released from prison?

While this is a good thing that has been done for these individuals who were given the harshest of sentences, 25 to life for getting caught with a pebble of crack cocaine in their pockets and an empty glass pipe or a baggie with just the residue left over, soon after the three strikes law went into effect, the question is now, what will become of these individuals when they are released with their $200 gate money and their toothbrush, sadly many will return to the life they lived prior to going to prison.

Where will they go? where will they live? and more importantly where will they work? Who will be there for them? certainly not the unforgiving society that they are being released back into.

Society today is unfortunately very unforgiving and don’t believe that an ex-offender has the right to be given a second chance and it is mainly for this reason that most ex-offenders re-offend after only weeks of being back on the streets because they need to make money in order to support themselves, their families or their habits

The revolving door of recidivism needs to be stopped and it is not something that only some of us can do to help them help themselves, but all of us. There is a growing need for programs with resources that actually work to help the ex-offenders being released get a job, get housing and get re-established. It is a proven fact that when an ex-offender is given a second chance by way of employment that they feel better about themselves and they do change their lives and become responsible members of society. Without a job which is the starting point the ex-offender will more than likely become a repeat offender.

My husband and I are trying to start a transitional housing/recycling center in which we will be able to house at least 8 individuals and equip them with vocational skills, help them to get their identification updated and clothing for interviews as we also will in the vocational skills classes have mock interviews in order to prepare them for a possible interview. The problem that we face is getting the funding to procure the building for housing or the land for the recycling business. While there is money out there we still have not been able to get the help needed to write the grant proposal for funding.

Anyone reading this post is free to offer up any ideas or help. This video speaks not only for the thousands of cats and dogs who face the cruelty of man but for the ex-offenders of the world also who are treated the same way, they have no-one to care for them, and they have no where to go. These animals are being advocated for, now who will advocate for the thousands of ex-offenders who pretty much share the same fate as these animals…Have a heart and adopt and ex-offender…

DO YOU HAVE THE LIST??? DON’T BELIEVE THE HYPE!!!

Greetings Brother’s and Sister’s. If you like me have unfortunately made mistakes in your life and now cannot get a job because of the “DREADED BACKGROUND CHECK”… Here is a list of employers who are willing to hire ex-offenders…SYYYKEEE!!!! These lists have been out for sooooo many years and they keep giving them out to prisoners in pre-release class, instilling in them the false hope of getting a job once they are released from prison. Well I hate to be the bearer of bad news and I am pretty sure that most of you reading this already know that the employers on this list do not hire felons and some of them don’t hire people with misdemeanors either. Sure the employers on these lists will tell you ” Just come in and fill out an application, and we’ll go from there”, then 1 week, 2 weeks and finally a month passes and still, NO REPLY!!! It sucks I know, so what I suggest is that you hone into your God given talents and start your own business until these and other companies get tired of getting sued for not hiring ex-offender solely because of their criminal background. If you don’t believe me call them and check for yourself like I did and you’ll see for yourself.
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You know it’s funny, I went into Wal-Mart posing as a student researching hiring requirements for people with felonies and he didn’t hesitate to say that they don’t hire felons. McDonalds, Taco Bell, and many, many more places that don’t hire felons will not hesitate to take a felons last dollar to feed their kids though. I say we boycott these companies and make them pay attention to our plight in life by hitting them where it hurts… IN THEIR WALLETS!!!

Please Go to Causes.com and sign the petition and take the pledge to support the Advocates Against Felon Discrimination Act.

Thank You,
Maymie Chandler-Pratt
Advocates Against Felon Disenfranchisement Act

THE FELON EMPLOYMENT DISCRIMINATION ACT…HIRE A FELON!!!

http://www.gofundme.com/Empowering-Felons

This bill is here-by created on the behalf of the 2.9 million ex-offenders in the world who really desire an opportunity to work but are not given a chance because of their criminal background. It was given to our very own Congressman Mark Takano who has taken it to his Washington, DC office for review.
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Advocates against Felon Employment Discrimination Act
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SENATE OR HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES) OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA 2013 Session
Introduced by: Advocates against Felon Employment Discrimination
Primary Sponsor: Maymie Chandler-Pratt
Secondary Sponsor: Aaron D. Pratt
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1. The purpose of this bill is to stop the employment discrimination of felons throughout the United States.
2. The (Senate or House of Representatives) of the United States of America hereby enacts as follows:
3. SECTION 1:
4. This act shall be known as the Advocates against Felon Employment Discrimination Act
5. SECTION 2:
6. Reinstate people with felonies their right to work, and modify the hiring requirements in
7. companies from the unrealistic term of 7 to 10 years to 2 to 5 years for felons who are willing
8. and able to earn an honest living wage and are skilled in those areas of work.
9. SECTION 3:
10. Require companies to hire people with felonies after a period of 2 to 5 years after said
11. person(s) have finished parole, have successfully complied with terms of release as presented
12. by the parole board; (Drug Rehabilitation, boarding house residency, random drug testing)
13. and have demonstrated a desire to work by enrolling in classes to improve their work skills
14. and moral turpitude.
15. SECTION 4:
16. Require companies to at least have bonding agents and resources within the HR department
17. which will allow companies to be compensated with tax write offs as an incentive to hire felons.
18. SECTION 5: Funding
19. The cost of the implications of this proposal should not exceed the amount of $1,000,000.00 20. dollars.
20. Funding for this bill will come partly from the Advocates against Felon Employment
21. Discrimination Act fundraising committee and participating government programs.
22. SECTION 6: Regulations
23. The EEOC has historically taken the position that an employer’s policy or practice of
24. excluding individuals from employment because they have criminal conviction record is
25. unlawful under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 unless the policy or practice is
26. justified by a business necessity. If the information was
27. erroneous or the conviction was not job-related, employees and applicants have a right to file
28. a discrimination claim with their state equal employment opportunity agency.
29. The government will impose sanctions on companies which are offering employment that
30. have no direct correlation with the crime that was committed by person’s applying for a job if
31. they don’t hire a person with a felony on their background that is older than 2 to 5 years.
32. All offenders:
33. For most offenders it is difficult to prove that a possible employer illegally discriminated
34. against them even with an expungement. In California an individual’s criminal history is
35. never erased, but rather erases the word “Conviction” and replaces it with “Dismissed in Furtherance
36. of Justice” in the disposition.
37. Constitutional issues:
38. The Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution explicitly permits felon
39.disenfranchisement, but it has been pointed out that constitutional approval of felons’ political
40. powerlessness is not the same as constitutional approval of government prejudice toward the
41. politically powerless. Such prejudice may violate the Equal Protection Clause, which contains
42. no provision authorizing discrimination against felons. A “discrete and insular” minority
43. subject to prejudice, in particular, may be considered particularly vulnerable to oppression by
44. the majority, and thus a suspect class worthy of protection by the judiciary.
45. SECTION 7: Penalties
46. The penalties for not hiring a person with felonies older than 2 to 5 years on their background
47. and who are willing to work and are skilled in that field or position will be a fine of $5000.00
48. dollars and or if the information was erroneous or the conviction was not job-related,
49.employees and applicants information was erroneous or the conviction was not job-related,
50.employees and applicants have a right to file a discrimination claim with their state equal
51. employment opportunity agency. If a felon is bonded by a company and hired on, and is later found to not be in compliance with the bonding agreement he/she shall be terminated.
52. SECTION 8: Definitions
53. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission:
54. The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) is a federal law
55. enforcement agency that enforces laws against job discrimination. The EEOC investigates
56.discrimination complaints based on an individual’s race, color, national origin, religion, sex,
57. age, disability, genetic information and retaliation for reporting, participating in and/or
58.opposing a discriminatory practice. The EEOC also mediates and settles thousands of
59.discrimination complaints each year prior to their investigation. The EEOC is also
60.empowered to file discrimination suits against employers on behalf of alleged victims and to
61.adjudicate 58.claims of discrimination brought against federal agencies.
62. Moral turpitude: A legal concept in the United States that refers to “conduct that is
63.considered contrary to community standards of justice, honesty or good morals.” As of 1998,
64. seven states absolutely barred felons from public employment. Other states had more narrow
65. restrictions for instance, only covering infamous crimes or felonies involving moral turpitude.
66. Over inclusive: Relating to legislation that burdens more people than necessary to accomplish
67. the legislation’s goal. Some laws have been criticized for being over inclusive; for instance, a
68. law banning all ex-offenders from working in health care jobs could prevent a person
69.convicted of bribery or shoplifting from sweeping the halls of a hospital. The law in Texas
70.requires that employers consider things like the nature and seriousness of the crime, the
71.amount of time since the person’s committed the crime, and letters of recommendation all be
72. taken into account even when the applicant has a felony.
73. SECTION 9: Effective Date
74. This bill shall take effect approximately and at a minimum of 1 year after passage before the
75. law is implemented.

This bill is not asking that the hiring requirements be abolished totally, but that they are modified from the unrealistic 7 to 10 years in order to be eligible for employment to a more realistic time requirement of 2 to 5 years or less depending on the crime committed. This bill is also going to listed on Causes.com and a petition to be signed for all in support of it will be attached along with a pledge to support it. It is time that we get our voices heard and our requests for equal consideration for employment heard as well. Please go to Causes.com and sign this petition so that we can get this bill passed.

Thank you,
Maymie Chandler-Pratt
Advocates For Felon Employment Discrimination Act

The making of a Felon…

When I first saw this picture I thought to myself this is exactly right. This world has done everything it possibly can to eradicate the prescence of the Living God out of everything that He created.

“Spare the rod, spoil the child”; “He who spares the rod hates his son, but he who loves him is careful to discipline him.” Proverbs 13:24

This is the end result. This is how felons are made.

Some psychologists think that the environment doesn’t play a part in the raising up of a child, well I beg to differ. Sure there are some that don’t, but those are the lucky ones. Lucky enough to have parents that never forgot how they were raised back in the day and valued it. Felons aren’t born, they are made. They are made by a corrupt and undisciplined society. They are made by the people who are sworn in to protect and serve us but instead they stereotype us and condemn us even before we can commit a crime. Then after they have molded us into that which they can forever capitalize off of they begin recycling us, the only difference in the recycling of a bottle and the recycling of a human being is that you only get $ 1.54 cents a pound for plastic or aluminum and for a human being they get $ 40,000.00 per felon. That’s the real reason why they don’t want to help us to reduce the rate of recidivism.

Parents unite!! let’s save our children from the hard knock life that society already has planned for them.

CALLING ALL FELONS…

Well for one, the 13th amendment to the constitution of the US which abolished slavery – did not abolish slavery for those convicted of a crime.
Angela Davis

Calling All Felons

No ex-felon should be punished for life. Once ex-felons are released from prison they should be treated like any other citizen. Corporations who do not hire ex-felons based on their criminal records only, in my opinion should not be supported by the ex-felons or their families. In some recent research in which I surveyed 100 of the largest corporations in Texas, many of the HR Departments responded to the questions of Do your corporation hire ex-felons by saying that each decision is made on a case by case basis. That was a common response from employers. In my book “Why Are So Many Black Folks In Jail”, I constantly remind readers that if corporations refuse to hire qualified ex-felons solely based on the fact that they committed a crime in their past not taking into account that they have paid their debt to society, then “if they don’t hire we don’t buy”. The best way to get people’s attention is to affect their wallets and pocketbooks! Ex-felons have much more power than they think, if they harness and organize their power!