The following originally appeared in the New York Times Room for Debate forum.
If we truly want people to come out of prison with the ability to fully re-engage as productive citizens, why do we deliberately disconnect them?
The notion that people convicted of felony offenses deserve to lose the rights and privileges of citizenship is a vestige of outdated ideas of civil death that have no place in modern America. There are appropriate ways to ensure that punishment is proportionate to the offense, including direct sanctions like imprisonment, community supervision, fines and restitution. The increasing array of collateral punishments — like loss of the right to vote, prohibitions on employment, and lack of access to public housing or other benefits — bear little or no relationship to protecting the integrity of our civic institutions, to say nothing of any legitimate public safety goals.
Denial of the right to vote, for example, is largely about retribution and signals that citizens have been banished, that their voices don't matter, that they shouldn't feel any sense of responsibility for — or investment in — the society in which they live. Similarly, denial of an occupational license, or employment generally, without any specific proof that prior criminal conduct renders one unqualified for a particular job — based on an assumption of moral frailty — is equally short-sighted, often condemning a person to a life of struggle that creates a greater risk to public safety.
Enduring labels like “felon,” “criminal,” and “ex-offender” do little to help us understand the harm people may have caused, the likelihood that they might inflict harm again, or how much they can contribute to society. Instead, permanent punishment based on those labels likely harms us all.
Child support hurdle
The Weekly Gleaner February 24, 2011 | Walker-Huntington, Dahlia Dear Mrs Walker-Huntington:
I am presently studying in the United States (US). I have being studying here for more than four years.
I met and fell in love with a young man. We are planning to get married. However, my fianc?© has a child from a previous relationship when he was in college. He had fallen ill for about three years and was unable to work to pay hie child support. As a result, he accrued a high balance. He is, however, very supportive of his child and tries to make his monthly payments.
He has been a permanent resident for over 22 years and was not interested in .becoming a US citizen, so he did not apply. He has started to fill out his application for US citizenship in light of our plans to get married.
I would like to know if the child-support issue will be a problem during his filing process. Will it be a problem for him to sponsor me after we get married?
Thanks.
-D.B.
Dear D.B.:
You did not indicate how much child support arrearage your fianc?© owes and whether there is a court case involving the child support. childsupportmd.net child support md
A person who is obligated to pay child support pursuant to a court order, or through involvement with the Child Enforcement Agency in their state, must be current in their child-support payments in order to qualify for US citizenship.
DIFFERENT RULES Child support is an individual state issue, and each of the 50 states has different rules as to how they ensure that children are financially taken care of by their non-custodial parent. Generally, however, the incomes of both parents are considered and the child support is calculated based on the state-mandated guidelines. If you have a court order for child support and you become unemployed, ill or otherwise unable to pay the support, you are obligated to file for a modification of the child support, or an abatement of the child support to stop the payment. If you do not alert the court of your inability to pay, or the change in your income, the amount you were previously ordered to pay will continue to increase.
While a person's child-support obligations stops when a child reaches 18 years of age, marries or otherwise becomes emancipated, the arrearage that accrued while the child was under 18 does not go away.
Failure to pay your courtordered child-support obligations can lead to severe legal consequences including loss of your driver's licence, forfeiture of incometax refunds or any gambling winnings such as the lottery" loss of your US passport and imprisonment for contempt of court. website child support md
In this situation where your nane?© is about to file an application for US citizenship, he must show that he is a person of good moral character. Included in this requirement, a person must show that they are meeting their childsupport obligations - if there are any. If he is, in fact, in compliance with his child support obligations, even if there is an arrearage, he should still be able to obtain his US citizenship. The arrearage has to be acknowledged and included in the total amount of child support due in the government's records. If the amount due is significant, he should retain an immigration lawyer, who also practises Family law to assist him in his application.
As a permanent resident, (green card holder) your fianc?© can file for you after you are married for your green cara. However, he cannot file to change vour status in the US from a student or visitor to that of a permanent resident. Only a UScitizen spouse can file to change the status of anyone. As a greencard holder filing for a spouse, the alien spouse must go to the US Embassy in their home country for the green-card interview. This means, in your case, since your fianc?© may have difficulty obtaining US citizenship, you should not overstay your visa. Be sure to keep your non-immigrant visa status current so you do not accrue any unlawful presence in the US. Unlawful presence in the US can lead to you being barred for three to 10 years.
[Author Affiliation] * Dahlia A Walker-Huntington, Esq is a Jamaican-American attor ney who practises in Florida in the areas of immigration, family, corporate and personal-injury law. She is a mediator, arbitrator and special magistrate in Broward County, Florida. info@walker huntington.com Walker-Huntington, Dahlia
Stay Informed
Changing public attitudes is the single greatest step toward reforming a criminal justice and penal system that is as counterproductive as it is vindictive. Politicians have made their careers on dehumanizing citizens who commit crimes. Without significant public pressure, those who make the laws and policies cannot or will not make the changes necessary to save the lives we are now wasting through the CJS.
Thirty plus years ago, as a young prisoners rights attorney, I was told that winning a torts case for a prisoner would never yield more than $1.00 in damages -- a jury cannot conceive that any harm to a felon or ex-felon should be compensated for. Prisoners were non-persons then and they are even more so today -- and far more of them. We have dehumanized a class consisting of millions of Americans, a dangerous step that has led to state-sanctioned brutality and beyond.
Thank you to Mr. Noisette and the OSI for the courageous work you do.