The Fallacy of “Second-Chance” month for Florida’s Sex Offenders

Weekly Update 2018-04-17

Dear Members and Advocates,

Happy “Second Chance Month”!

What does that mean? “Second Chance Month”. Is that like Black History Month where we recognize great leaders in the civil rights movement? Or is it like National Pancake Month (July) where we are supposed to eat pancakes? I checked the Wikipedia page for these observance months and didn’t find Second Chance Month on the list. So, what exactly was the President introducing, when he signed Proclamation 9718, declaring April to be “Second Chance Month” and what does it mean for any of us?

As we’re now halfway through Second Chance Month, let’s explore what’s happened so far and make the most of what’s left of April.

Second Chance Month started off promising. The proclamation, signed on March 30, 2018, states the purpose of Second Chance Month is, “to provide opportunities for people with criminal records to earn an honest second chance.  Affording those who have been held accountable for their crimes an opportunity to become contributing members of society is a critical element of criminal justice that can reduce our crime rates and prison populations, decrease burdens to the American taxpayer, and make America safer.” Wow! That all sounds great! After all, the United States home to only 5 percent of the world’s population, but one-quarter of the world’s inmates.

In the same month that President Trump declared April to be “Second Chance Month”, U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions declared that we need to be locking up more people and for longer. In a March 15^th speech in Nashville, Sessions complained that the federal prison population had declined from 220,000 to 180,000 under Obama and commented, “We’ve got some space to put some people.” Last week, Sessions appointed a new head of the Federal Bureau of Prisons, Army Maj. General Mark Inch, who has no experience running civilian prisons, but does have experience running detainee operations in Iraq. Directives to end the privatization of prisons were reversed under this administration and momentum to end mandatory minimum sentences all but died on the vine. All the while, conditions are getting worse. Yesterday, 7 inmates died in a South Carolina prison riot, where the inmate to guard ratio is 62 to 1.

So, prison conditions are not getting better. What about those who are released? This month is for them, right? Hardly. This month Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi appealed a Federal Court decision that would serve to help restore voting rights to former felons. A small step towards re-integration into society, but Florida won’t even give that! In an insightful article in the Herald Tribune, Carrie Seidman asks, “Do we really believe in second chances?” It points out that, “Our criminal justice system does a good job of punishing people and tearing them down. But we do nothing to build them back up.” “insufficient assistance after release, societal stigma and employment barriers combined to exacerbate repercussions of the original crime. It’s not surprising to learn there is a 30 percent recidivism rate within five years of release for Florida felons, nor that children with incarcerated parents face dramatically escalated risks of homelessness, poverty, behavioral and mental health challenges and legal trouble.”

So what “opportunities for people with criminal records to earn an honest second chance” have been provided? With only a couple weeks left in Second Chance Month, we should be contacting our legislators to find out what they are doing in commemoration of Second Chance Month. We should call local businesses and ask if they are opening new employment opportunities to former felons considering it is Second Chance Month. We should be contacting religious congregations and community organizations and asking if, in light of Second Chance Month, they will be allowing us to participate and become involved. Let’s not let Second Chance Month go wasted! In July we can sit around eating pancakes, but for the next couple of weeks in April everyone reading this email should commit to reaching out to at least three community leaders or politicians to ask what they are doing to commemorate Second Chance Month.

Sincerely,

The Florida Action Committee

SOME HEADLINES FROM THIS WEEK

Registrants in Florida Continue to Find Relief from Double Jeopardy Under Shelley

Add Kania to the list of cases where individuals convicted of online solicitation offenses had their “associated” charges dismissed on double jeopardy grounds. Last week, the 2nd DCA threw out the “unlawful use of a two-way communications device” conviction of a…

Jackson County SORR fell off agenda.

Jackson County, FL was supposed to discuss a proposed increase to their Sex Offender Residency Restriction, increasing it to 2500 feet at their meeting that took place this past week. We asked for our members to reach out to the commissioners and many did. We also…

FAC Letter to Nextdoor.com

Unlike some social media platforms that prevent someone on the registry from creating an account, Nextdoor.com prevents anyone in the same household as a sex offender from creating an account. That includes, spouses, children, roommates and anyone else who happens to…

Reason.com: Writing Sex Offender Laws Based on Fake Recidivism Numbers Is Rational, Court Says

Last week the Illinois Supreme Court upheld a state law banning sex offenders from public parks, overturning a 2017 appeals court ruling that deemed the statute “unconstitutional on its face because it bears no reasonable relationship to protecting the public.” The…