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About Portland observer. (Portland, Or.) 1970-current | View Entire Issue (June 22, 2016)
Diversity in the Workplace June 22, 2016 O PINION Breaking Down the Prison Pipeline Supporting vital services for released inmates s. b obbin s ingh It’s a statistic often quoted in criminal justice cir- cles: 95 percent of prisoners will be released at some point. That igure shows we need to be serious about planning for their release. People returning to the com- munity from Oregon’s prisons and jails face numerous barriers to successfully reintegrating. They have to ind work, a place to live, and repair relationships with fam- ily and friends that may have been fractured by incarceration or their criminal behavior, all the while complying with whatever condi- tions of release and post-prison supervision may have been put on them by the system. More than 2,500 people return home to Multnomah County from prison or jail each year. The sim- ple fact is that the number of peo- ple that could use some help tran- sitioning from prison far exceeds the available services. by Even though many newly re- leased inmates are genuinely com- mitted to leading a productive life, there may be legal and other is- sues that went unaddressed while they were away. These may in- clude child custody problems or loss of parental rights, debt, ruined credit histories, or loss of assets such as their home, job or business. There are also laws and policies that restrict the full participa- tion of people with criminal histories in society. In fact, Oregon has massive network of 1,100 such laws and policies. These barriers to reentry dispro- portionately affect people of color because individuals from these communities are disproportion- ately likely to be caught up in the criminal justice system. Since the release of Multnomah County’s Racial and Ethnic Disparities re- port in March we have hard proof that people of color are negative- ly affected at a greater rate than whites at every stage of the system, including after prison or jail. If we are serious about criminal justice reform, we have to get seri- ous about robust reentry services. These services need to start long be- fore anyone actually leaves prison. In my organization, the Oregon Justice Resource Center, we have begun work to increase the civil legal services available to those rejoining the community. We no- ticed that despite the urgent need, civil legal assistance is hard to obtain. Most newly released peo- ple can’t afford an attorney and Legal Aid-type services are often stretched beyond capacity. For those who are still incarcerated, and are trying to take proactive steps to prepare for their release, civil legal assistance and informa- tion tends to be especially dificult to obtain. Civil legal assistance can help in a number of ways: expunging or correcting criminal records, securing driver’s licenses, gain- ing parenting time or custody of their children, addressing debt and inancial burdens, modifying fees and ines, and helping with evic- tion proceedings. These services can help reduce recidivism and increase the chances of successful reentry. A 2013 evaluation by the Oregon Criminal Justice Commis- sion showed for every one dollar invested in an effective reentry program saves the public safety system 14 dollars. There are encouraging signs that more attention is being paid to the importance of reentry services and the barriers that returning in- dividuals may face. The U.S. re- cently celebrated its irst National Reentry Week. It was created by the Department of Justice to high- light the challenges of reentry and promote the great work being done to overcome them. Additionally, a federal judge in New York in a groundbreaking decision chose to sentence a defendant to pro- bation instead of prison. Quoting Michelle Alexander’s book “The New Jim Crow,” Judge Brock cit- ed the harsh, negative collateral consequences of incarceration and the dificulties of reentry as rea- sons why he decided not to send the individual to prison. We need to pay attention to what this judge has realized: That barriers to reentry are holding people back and that is detrimen- tal to society. If we can support people in contributing positively to their community and families, we can reduce crime, cut police and court costs, and avoid the substantial charge for re-incarcerating some- one after another crime. If we are sincere about addressing the civil rights issue of our time, then we need to commit ourselves to as- sisting those returning home with the support and services they need. S. Bobbin Singh, J.D., is the executive director of the Oregon Justice Resource Center. Culture of Fear and Bigotry Takes Hold We must ight this together g raCe d olan -s andrino The weekend of June 12 sent me on a rollercoaster of emotions I never thought pos- sible. The previous Friday, I was an invited participant in the irst-ever White House Summit for African American LGBTQ Youth. I felt amazingly support- ed, empowered, and valued — by my school, by my family and friends, by President Obama, and by my LGBTQ community. I was inspired. On Saturday, I marched in the Pride Parade in our nation’s capi- tal. I sang and danced with neigh- bors from every race, ethnicity, sexual orientation, and gender identity. We celebrated ourselves, each other, our allies, and our bright futures. We were so beautiful and full of promise. I was so proud to be an Afro-Latina-Anglo transgen- der teen. by Then came Sunday. I woke up to ind that a ha- tred-illed assassin in Orlando had brutally murdered 49 members of our young, innocent, beautiful, and be- loved community, and injured over 50 more. They say the murderer was a U.S.-born Islamic terrorist. But Omar Mateen’s hatred for my community echoes the headlines I see about right-wing fundamen- talists of other faiths who call for discrimination against people like me — and for the erasure of my rights as a human being. His hatred echoes the oppres- sion, arrests, and killings of my black and Latino brothers and sisters on the streets, in schools, and in our prisons. It relects the cruelty of those who want to keep Muslims and Latinos away from our country — by force — and who still want to keep LGBTQ people from marrying each other. They’ll even deny us the right to pee in peace, if that’s what it takes to dehumanize and humili- ate us. I’m not trying to be partisan. But it’s hard not to notice that President Obama held a summit to tell us how valued we are, while Donald Trump and many conser- vative lawmakers want to erase us. Many Republicans invoked fears of international terrorism, but most said nothing about the members of our LGBTQ commu- nities, who were the very targets and victims. They vow more Is- lamophobia, but make no mention of the ease with which the killers get and use assault weapons. I’m only 15 years old, but I know what it’s like to have deep love and support, and I’ve wit- nessed and been the object of deep hatred and ignorance. I feel angry and heartbroken by this massacre. A culture of fear and bigotry is again taking hold of this country. But my generation demands our equality and our human rights. We want to lead, and to determine our own future. We want you not just to love us, but to support us and to listen to us. So if you don’t understand who we are and what we need, ask us. To start, you can ight back against laws aimed at hurting us or erasing us, like those bigoted and ridiculous bathroom bills. Punish politicians who block sensible gun control. Stop sup- porting lawmakers who want to exploit and exclude immigrants. Stop the people who are expel- ling and suspending and arresting and incarcerating us. They’re killing us. Help us stop them. We’re stronger than you think. We’re Generation Z, and we come of age in 2018. Our future is ma- jority black and brown, and more openly queer than any before us. We know that many of you are allies. We need you, and you need us. Together we can stop the roll- ercoaster of fear and terror and start the climb to the mountaintop of love and liberation. Grace Dolan-Sandrino is a transgender teen activist. Distrib- uted by Otherwords.org. 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