Petition to Declare Public Sex Offender Registration in the United States a Violation of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR)
Today, approximately one-million people in the United States are forced to register as “sex offenders”. The label leads to stigmatization, separation from society, loss of employment, loss of housing and even exposure to violence at the hands of vigilantes. The stigmatization extends to the spouses, children, family, friends, employer and anyone that associates with the registrant. The isolation, shame, stress, fear of violence, loss of income and other psychological effects are experienced by the entire household.
There is a program backed by the federal government through travelers insurance to insure companies against felony hires. The program is free for 6 months to the employer and it’s low cost after that. I used to be an employer and I would hire people specifically who were on the registry as much as I could. I never used the program but I did explore it and it seemed to be pretty good. I don’t know why more employers aren’t aware of it. I also don’t understand why we were able in world war II to take people off the street and turn them into machinists but we can’t do that with our release programs. Even go to college all you want in prison but you can’t really use the degrees that you get because no one will hire you. There should be government incentives to hire people. Some of the fast food places will hire. If you can get into a private owned company and explain your situation to them they are more apt to hire you as well. I have been in situations where an employer was upset because they found out and I hadn’t told them. So I’ve never been quite clear on how I am to approach that. Do I take the job without telling them or do I tell them and maybe not get the job at all?
@Ben,
Does said job have anything, anything whatsoever, to do with your past. No? They don’t “need to know.” You are not defined by past criminal behavior. You are defined by who you are today. Do not ever let anyone take that away from you, ever.
Although… If you happen to be on supervision it’s necessary to inform the prospective employer as to why you are being supervised.
My advice is that you be 100% honest and up front with prospective employers. If you don’t tell them, you are almost certain to get fired when they find out (and they always do, sooner or later). If you tell them from the start, the ones who would have fired you won’t deal with you, which just saves you time and avoids grief. Give them all of the information, including the court and case number so they can look it up if they want to. That will instill some confidence in them that you have been fully candid. I was summarily expelled by the University of Miami while in graduate school there in 2004 when the law changed to require notification to institutions of higher education (the application for admission at that time didn’t even ask about arrests or convictions), but I picked myself up off the floor and ended up completing graduate programs at New York University and Penn State, both of which knew about my criminal conviction and still accepted me. I am now enrolled in a specialist degree program at the University of Virginia, which asked about all prior arrests/convictions. On the application, I provided them with every detail, including the case number and a link to my FDLE flyer, and I was admitted with no further questions about my background. I’m now in my third semester of that program. I of course registered all of these university enrollments with FDLE through the online system and to the best of my knowledge, FDLE did not contact the universities (or if they did, no one from any of the universities ever mentioned it to me).
Of course, the more serious the offense, the harder it will probably be to find someone to hire you (which I think is obvious). I have worked full-time in a professional job in Miami with just two employers since 2003 (one from 2003-2016, and the other from 2016-now, which was a step up in my profession), and have run a successful side business during most of that time as well. All of this employment (and self-employment) has been registered and since my probation ended in 2008, none of my employers have been contacted by FDLE or the Miami-Dade Police Department. I’m sure I have lost some private clients who looked me up online, but I have many consistent, long-term clients who I’m almost certain have Googled me (my FDLE sex offender page is usually in the top 10 hits for my name, which is not a common name). So there is hope. I am proof of that. Don’t give up. Keep trying. And be honest.
Thank God for some good ol’ advice!! Always tell them upfront and only the main boss needs to know.. Everybody else whatever.. Remember once 7 years has passed most companies see that you have turned the corner in your life and do not do those same crimes anymore.. Remember make a job out of getting a job and you will get one.. Use your SUPPORT systems meaning family, frieinds, your preacher at your church. If no preacher, then start going and watch the floodgates open pouring blessings into your life. Use the registry against them! Look up by zip code other offenders, and see where they are working. If they will hire one, they may hire you!
Does that insurance program include sex offenders? Because of the constant barrage of misinformation, e.g. “frightening and high,” employers fear they could be sued if a former sex offender were to sexually harass or even assault another employee. We all know this is BS and extremely unlikely. The mere existence of the registry generates irrational fear of former offenders and is then offered as a purported remedy by its proponents.
Veritas
I have personally been effected by this. I worked for 7 years straight. My first company was purchased by another and I kept my job with the new company. Then the company sold and I lost my job while almost all of my coworkers kept their job. I am fairly certain it was because I was on the registry and had to notify the employer. Since then I’ve had 3 job offers that were pulled after I notified them I was on the registry. All of these jobs have been in the oil industry where no one under 18 is allowed to be. My offense is a misdemeanor from 20 years ago. But thanks to the news and the unrealistic information they spread people don’t want to hire anyone on the registry.
Employers need to get the heads out of their tails and realize the labor pool they’ve neglected. I suspect billions in revenue is lost every year because of discrimination against registrants and ex-felons.
After I got off probation, I figured it would be easier to get a job. I had a lot of friends in high places. I was sent to places to apply and got right in to an interview based on referrals from these respected people.
As soon as I was honest with the hiring manager about having a criminal history, they would say “That shouldn’t be a problem”. Having said that, once I came back as a registered outcast, I was told the “position had been filled”.
It was so bad that, even janitorial positions didn’t want me. One of those places, the owner himself was an ex-con. But he told me “Sorry, I draw the line with hiring, when it comes to sex offenders”
I’d love to read the full article but I’m not giving WaPo my money for a subscription when so many other news outlets are free.
Aside from that, we’re in a society that sees us (or anyone with a criminal record) as being unworthy of anything above a fast food or dishwasher job. I guess that’s that “Christian values” for you.
Maestro
You cannot blame “Christian” values for everything. To be a Christian means to be a “Follower of Christ”. It does not mean you are perfect. Having said that, when you tell someone you are a Christian, you have to be careful, because the first time you make a mistake, someone is there to point out “OMG , you did not just say that, I thought you were a Christian”.
I am a Christian and have been since I was a young boy. We are far from perfect. Although I know a few Atheist who are generally better people than I am. That is why I do not put Bumper stickers on my car such as “Honk if you love Jesus”. Not because I am Ashamed, but the first time you accidently cut someone off, they say to their passengers “See that is why I am not a Christian, that hypocrite just cut me off”.
Being a Christian and not being perfect gets thrown in our faces a lot. Perfection does not come until we are called home. That does not give us an excuse to act however we want, but as Humans, we have faults that sometimes cannot be avoided.
You are not the “Christian” I was referring to. I assumed you’d have caught on. You’re not the one turning people away for jobs or putting them on a lifetime registry or retroactively putting them on a registry. Please understand who I am referring to and stop defending YOURself when I mention “Christians”.
Even when I was into Christianity, I would still say what I say about people who claim to be so “Christ like” (and I’m not talking about being cut off on a highway).
I don’t mean to come off rude to you, Cherokee, but come on.
And my opinion is my opinion.
Maestro
Any felony conviction is seen by society and perspective employers as a “character flaw.” If that wasn’t bad enough, compound that stigma with the hit list label stigma and it’s basically social death.
When I was released from prison in 2010 I was lucky. I had taken a small gas engine class while locked up. Also a few of us had gotten it’s set up to get industry certifications. We had to pay for them, but it did help. I got a job in a couple of weeks. Then when there was no grass growing, things got slow and I was laid off. I started doing telemarketing. It sucked, but I could pay my bills. If I didn’t think about whether I was screwing people or not I did good. Did that for 8 years then they closed. Now I live in a different state, tons of industrial jobs around here. But… Can’t send to get hired because of background. Not sure what something from 15 years ago has to do with me making parts on a line. So it is frustrating personally, but also I see all the now hiring signs but they just don’t get it. Not every person who has done wrong before will do wrong again. It takes a village to raise a child, but shouldn’t that same village have compassion to pick people up later in life, to benefit the whole.
Confused
Yeah when I first got out of prison, I was amazed at all the places that hired ex felons. I never had a problem finding a job. Then once the registry really started ramping up with photos, addresses, and more, places started avoiding the exposure of having a scary sex offender working on the premises.
One place I worked for 11 years, someone came in and hung flyers on every isle of the store. The store manager stood up for me. But then someone complained to corporate and the manager AND me both got fired. He had been with the company for 22 years, me for 11. And of course they put down false reasons why we were both fired. “Performance issues”.
Has anyone ever gotten disability because of being on the registry and unable to work? I’ve been looking for a job for 5 years. Only 1 offer in all that time. I’ve been told it’s because the first thing potential employers do is Google search the name of a prospective employee. Boom. The hit list pops up and that the end of it.
Maybe not “just” because you are on the registry, though one SSI agent told me that because the legal definition of a disability is anything that keeps you from obtaining and maintaining gainful employment, being a registered person meets that definition, but in my case, I had struggled with depression, anxiety disorders, and BPD even before I went down for my offense. Of course, being an RC has exacerbated my problems.
So I can’t say you would get it because of being an RC, but does registry status not cause you a variety of issues like PTSD, Depression, and Anxiety Disorders? Like nearly any physical ailment, people can get mentally ill later in life. Not every person struggles with mental illness their whole lives, but may experience an event that causes them to fall ill, like the stress of being subject to a myriad of draconian laws that change on the whims of victim-centric legislatures.
Derek, do you know how I can go about applying? I suffer from depression and anxiety disorders from all this. Can’t find and keep a job. Thanks
Consult with an attorney like Binder & Binder or Morgan & Morgan. They won’t take your case if they think they can’t win. They won’t charge you if they don’t win. If they do take your case don’t let them charge you over 25% of your back pay. I’m sure what the maximum amount they can charge but I’ve heard that by law they can’t charge over 25% of the back pay.
I was released 2005 and upon my release I had about a year of parole to do so I spent that first year going to college. I was 29 at the time and it seemed like the right thing to do. 2 years later I got a degree an associate’s degree in graphic design and was lucky enough to land a job as a screen printer at a shop while I was going to college. The owner didn’t care about records really he just wanted people to work hard and he saw I was motivated by art so that helped. It’s been about 14 years since then and now I work for myself making signs, storefront graphics and screen printing from home. I don’t make a ton of money but I do all right for myself. I think the best thing to do if you have some form of criminal record is to learn a trade like welding or sign making. Something they can’t take away from you that is unique and needed. That way you can always have a way to attract an employer to you. And if no one will hire you then with a trade you have the ability to branch out on your own to make your own business.
On a side note something that was very ironic to me at the time was I used to screen print all the PE clothes and spirit clothes for the local 40 or 50 schools in 3 different counties. I also used to make all the police officers shirts for like their softball games and things like that. I used to have to sit down with the officers and they would describe what they want for a design for a shirt and they never really knew I had a record or at least they didn’t show it. They were always pretty respectful to me and I made sure they got what they wanted because they never did anything to me. I’m not a bitter person again somebody that doesn’t have anything to do with me.
The registry has caused me to lose almost every job I had. I did work for a while as a janitor cleaning banks. The owner was bonded so that covered me too. But he kept sending me to banks so far from my house to clean, that the round trip gas cost more than I made doing to cleaning.
What ever the contract cost was, I only got a small percentage. I think I got $75 a week to do one bank 5 nights a week. Took about 90 minutes to empty trash, mop, clean windows, clean all the counter, clean the bathrooms etc. That is $15 a night and it cost me $10 in gas to get there and back home.
I just saw this thread and want to post-even if a few days “late”.
In my experience, I have had the best success with franchisees and locally owned businesses. Most of the denials I have had with larger corporations is their (at least I have been told this) Human Resources department, along with their Legal department is scared of potential liability should “something” happen. Bond or no bond. Not going to name company names, but been told that repeatedly by some of the larger employers around.
So,…keep trying. Can be discouraging, but throw enough out there and you will get something. First one is the hardest. After that, once you have an employment record, it gets easier. Not easy. Easier.
Noura Jackson was wrongfully convicted of her mother’s homicide and she shares how its hard for convicted felons to find gainful employment and she shares that criminal justice is designed to break you down and that its designed to make you fail.
Noura Jackson being interviewed by Jason Flom board member of the Innocence Project on Bloomberg news./Innocence Project’s Jason Flom on Criminal Justice Reform https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rYeV070wlgM
https://www.tncourts.gov/courts/court-criminal-appeals/opinions/2012/12/10/state-tennessee-v-noura-jackson
https://www.tncourts.gov/sites/default/files/jacksonnouraopn.pdf
https://www.tncourts.gov/courts/supreme-court/opinions/2014/08/22/state-tennessee-v-noura-jackson
https://www.tncourts.gov/sites/default/files/jacksonn_opn.pdf