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By A. Scott Washington, J.D., Workplace ReConnections, Inc.
Beginning in the late 1970s and continuing throughout the next two decades, the United States’ reaction to escalating crime rates was to enact policy that was designed to be tough on crime. As a result of these policies, we have seen a dramatic and unprecedented increase in the prison population in this country. By the end of 2002, Ohio had the 7th largest prison population in the United States and the 22nd highest incarceration rate. In addition, the fiscal impact of the American experiment in mass incarceration has been high as well. The United States Department of Justice reports that between 1982 and 1999, direct expenditures by federal, state, and local government on corrections increased from $9 billion to $49 billion, an increase of over 440%.
The collateral costs of mass incarceration has been staggering on local communities as well. The tough on crime approach to criminal justice and its collateral consequences have a tremendous impact on the State of Ohio and in particular the urban centers of this state. Counties, Cities, Townships and other municipalities incur a variety of collateral costs when a defendant is convicted and incarcerated, including increased expenditures for the support and health care of dependents of prisoners, and lost tax revenues from income that would have been earned or expenditures that would have been made by an incarcerated person. Most importantly, families and communities from which prisoners come suffer various tangible and intangible harms from the absence of the incarcerated person. These include emotional, economic, and developmental damage to the children of incarcerated persons. To ignore the causal connection between contemporary criminal justice policy, and the cyclical pattern of poverty and crime in America is turning a blind-eye to factors that are rotting the foundation of contemporary urban society.
The age-old issues of crime and punishment has taken on a new importance in recent years. In a monograph on the subject published by The Urban Institute it is reported that:
" More prisoners are returning home, having spent longer terms behind bars, less prepared for life on the outside, with less assistance in their reintegration. Often they will have difficulties reconnecting with jobs, housing, and perhaps their families when they return, and will remain beset by homelessness, substance abuse and health problems (end quote). Many of these challenges are imposed by the state."
The owner of a Columbus (Ohio) area Day Care provider (Cosby Kids Playhouse), Lorrie A. Cosby recently had her Title 20 child care certification revoked. Cosby, who was convicted of forgery some twenty-one years ago has lost her business and is now unemployed pursuant to House Bill 11, a 2003 Ohio law that provides for the revocation of Cosby's Title 20 Certification. Cosby Kids Playhouse had been a landmark in the Columbus area serving children of low income and working class parents for eleven years. Cosby Kids Playhouse had an excellent regulatory compliance record. Immediately following her conviction, some twenty years ago, Cosby began the rehabilitation process and has been a outstanding citizen and business person predominantly serving the less fortunate in the Columbus area.
In Ohio, there are nearly four hundred -Collateral Sanctions and Discretionary Disqualifications- in its Revised Code and/or Administrative Code. A collateral sanction is defined as -any “legal penalty, disability, or disadvantage, however denominated, that is imposed on a person automatically upon that persons’ conviction for a felony, misdemeanor or other offense, even if it is not included in the sentencing judge's order”. Collateral sanctions do not include punishments that occur as part of a criminal conviction. For example, some convictions require the person convicted to turn over a driver’s license immediately to the sentencing judge as part of the sentence. “This is NOT a collateral sanction because this is part of the sentence. However, under Ohio Revised Code 4709.13(A)(1) -the barber board may refuse to issue or renew or may suspend or revoke or impose conditions upon any license issued pursuant to this chapter for a conviction of a felony shown by a certified copy of the record of the court of conviction”. This is a collateral sanction.
Clearly there are collateral sanctions that are appropriate and necessary. A prohibition preventing a known drug addict from working in a pharmacy makes sense. However, an examination of the nearly four-hundred collateral sanctions embedded in Ohio law reveal, as in Cosby's case, that most collateral sanctions or discretionary disqualifications have no nexus (logical connection) to crime that was committed.
Communities that are plagued by crime, and more importantly, violent crime are, without exception, communities with the highest conviction rates of its citizens. The cost of crime and the criminal justice process is often devastating for local economies. Flight of businesses, residents, and entire industries from high crime areas have left communities within the urban centers of Ohio scrambling for ways to grow the economy because of the loss of commerce and jobs.
Criminal justice policy must be enacted that presents strategies for addressing social dysfunction without creating nearly insurmountable legal barriers to the successful reintegration into our society for those who have made mistakes or used poor judgment in their past. It is imperative that our children have families that are able to provide for them. Parents that are able to provide for their children are the anchor of the family and by extension the community. Simply put, anchored families equate to strong community.
In the year 2006, an enormous issue stews below the important election year issues. That issue: what should be done about the bourgeoning criminal justice system and its collateral damage to communities? In short we must be -SMART ON CRIME-. Its application and impact today- how to and for what reason.
Author:
A. Scott Washington has a Bachelors Degree in Urban Studies with an emphasis on contemporary urban problems and a Juris Doctor Degree from the University of Dayton School of Law. He is a Staff Lawyer in the Montgomery County is Executive Director for Workplace ReConnections, a Miami Valley grass-roots community service organization that assists ex-offenders make the transition from lifestyles of criminality and incarceration to a more productive crime free lives. Mr. Washington and his business partner Khalil Osiris, M.A. recently held very successful Community ReConciliation: Recovery and Reentry Conference at the Leo Yassenoff Jewish Community Center in Columbus, Ohio.
BIO for A. Scott Washington
Juris Doctor From the University of Dayton, School of Law.
Bachelor of Arts in Urban Studies and Planning from California State University Northridge
Associate of Arts in Liberal Arts from Los Angeles Pierce College
Current Employment:
Staff Attorney for the Honorable A.J. Wagner Montgomery County Common Pleas Court
Executive Director Workplace ReConnections, Inc.
A. Scott Washington is 41 years-old, married with four children. He was born and raised in Los Angeles California. Joined the Rollin 60s Crips Street Gang at age 13, and spent the next 12 years committed to the streets. He has been arrested 19 times, convicted of multiple felony offenses, and has served time behind bars. On April 15, 1990, he began the rehabilitation process. Today he is a loving husband and father, and mentor/role model for urban youth. The focus of his community work is Ex-Offender Reentry. He is Executive Director of Workplace ReConnections, a grass-roots, faith-based community service organization. He has received recognition from Mayor Rhine McClin and the Dayton City Commission proclaiming March 25, 2004 as -Scott Washington Day- in the City of Dayton for his volunteer work with ex-offenders in Dayton, Ohio. Mr. Washington is on the Board of Contributing Writers for the Dayton Daily News.
Biography Published In:
University of Dayton Alumni News http://alumni.udayton.edu/np_story.asp?storyID=1074
Press Release - University of Dayton School of Law http://www.udayton.edu/news/nr/050503.html
Shotcaller: Serving Time in the Era of Mass Incarceration, Osiris/Washington, publication pending.
Publications, Interviews, and other Material:
From Felon to Focused Father, The Dr. Laura Perspective, March 1998 edition
DRUG LAWS AND AIDS: A Crisis in the African American Community
http://academic.udayton.edu/health/aid.htm
RACIAL PROFILING: A Comprehensive Solution http://academic.udayton.edu/race/03justice/profile06.htm
A VIEW FROM THE TOP: One Ex-Offender’s Perspective on Ex-Offender Reentry, REENTRY: National Media Outreach Campaign, Volume II Issue VI, December 2004
The American Bar Association Takes On Criminal Justice Reform, Winter Edition ON TOP, A Transition of Prisoners publication
PULLING BLACK MEN FROM ABYSS
Date: April 2, 2006 Publication: Dayton Daily News (OH) Page Number: A6 Word Count: 1330
SPEAKERS SUGGEST JUSTICE REFORM
Date: February 4, 2006 Publication: Dayton Daily News (OH) Page Number: B3 Word Count: 381
EX-FELONS HONORED FOR ACHIEVEMENT
Date: April 22, 2004 Publication: Dayton Daily News (OH) Page Number: Z7-1 Word Count: 1233
WORKPLACE RECONNECTIONS OFFERS LIFELINE
Date: March 24, 2004 Publication: Dayton Daily News (OH) Page Number: B3 Word Count: 519
FROM CRACK ADDICT TO PROMISING LAWYER
Date: May 10, 2003 Publication: Dayton Daily News (OH) Page Number: A1 Word Count: 967
Contact:
Anthony Scott Washington
1221 Harmony Lane
Fairborn, Ohio 45324
Cell. 937/369-4064
Copyright © 2006 Christian Association for Prison Aftercare. All Rights Reserved.
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