SearchLAC Celebrates Passage of Second Chance Act
On March 13th, 2008, Congressman Danny Davis (D-IL) hosted a press conference at the National Press Club in Washington, DC to celebrate the recent passage of the "Second Chance Act" reentry legislation in Congress. Joining Congressman Davis was Congresswoman Stephanie Tubbs Jones (D-OH); Former Congressman and Secretary of the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) Jack Kemp; Melody Heaps, President of the Center for Health and Justice at TASC; Paul Samuels, President and Director of the Legal Action Center; and a number of other supporters of the Second Chance Act.
The Second Chance Act would help States and localities better address the needs of individuals reentering the community from the criminal justice system by providing drug and alcohol addiction treatment, mental health treatment, job training and education opportunities, housing and other necessary services. The Second Chance Act was introduced in the House by Congressman Davis, Congressman Chris Cannon (R-UT) and 13 additional bi-partisan co-sponsors. The Senate version of the Second Chance Act was introduced by Senators Joseph Biden (D-DE), Arlen Specter (R-PA), Sam Brownback (R-KS) and Patrick Leahy (D-VT).
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| TASC members and Legal Action Center staff, including (left to right)President and Director Paul N. Samuels, Deputy Director for National Policy Gabrielle de la Gueronniere, and Policy Associate Nisha Thakker. |
Congressman Davis, chief House sponsor of the Second Chance Act, began by thanking "the thousands of nameless and faceless people working for the bill around the country." Congressman Davis also thanked a number of his colleagues in Congress who helped secure passage of the bill including lead Republican House co-sponsor Chris Cannon (UT), and House Judiciary Committee Chairman John Conyers (D-MI). Emphasizing that funding must be allocated for the Second Chance Act's grant programs, Congressman Davis urged the bill's supporters to advocate for the bill in the Congressional appropriations process. Congressman Davis ended his comments by urging his colleagues and employers to work to further address the barriers that formerly incarcerated people face when seeking employment.
In her remarks, Congresswoman Tubbs Jones lauded members of Congress for passing the Second Chance Act, and said, "Passage of this legislation is a crucial step to breaking down barriers to successful reentry and allowing offenders and their families the tools necessary to break the cycle of criminality." Remarking that passage of Second Chance, "is a victory, but the war goes on," Congresswoman Tubbs Jones stated that the focus must now shift to corporate America in order to expand employment opportunities for formerly incarcerated people.
Former HUD Secretary Jack Kemp joined in Congresswoman Tubbs Jones' push to strengthen and increase the number of employment opportunities available to people with criminal records. Mr. Kemp expressed his willingness to work with corporate America to help additional formerly incarcerated people to obtain good jobs. Mr. Kemp also congratulated Members who helped secure passage of the Second Chance Act, remarking that the legislation's focus on providing services to people reentering the community from incarceration made "more sense that incarceration."
Melody Heaps, President of the Center for Health and Justice at TASC spoke about the need to pursue a public health and community health approach to solve the problems of crime in our society. Speaking about the link between crime and untreated drug and alcohol addiction, Ms. Heaps said, "Reentry solutions such as the Second Chance Act...that keep non-violent drug-involved individuals from going to prison in the first place are key in stopping this revolving door of drugs, crime, and incarceration."
George Williams, Ms. Heaps' colleague from TASC, also lauded passage of the legislation. Mr. Williams stated that passage of the Second Chance Act represented an "enormous symbolic victory" for incarcerated people around the country and that he hoped that positive policy reforms for people with criminal records would continue.
Legal Action Center President and Director Paul N. Samuels addresses the conference attendees. |
In his comments, Paul Samuels, President and Director of the Legal Action Center, thanked the bi-partisan sponsors of Second Chance in the House and the Senate and the many national, state and local organizations that worked to secure passage of the legislation. In addition, Mr. Samuels said that while passage of the Second Chance Act was a "happy moment," "we need to ensure that passing Second Chance is just the first step." Mr. Samuels spoke about the millions of Americans who need drug and alcohol addiction treatment services but are not receiving these life-saving services. By improving access to treatment services, Mr. Samuels asserted, many more people would avoid entry into the criminal justice system and the rate of recidivism for formerly incarcerated people with addiction histories would drop dramatically.
Speaking from personal experience as a formerly incarcerated person, Ron Byrd spoke about how Goodwill Industries' employment project for people with criminal records helped him to secure employment following his release from incarceration. Mr. Byrd spoke about how Goodwill's job training and placement services helped him to obtain a college education, retain good employment and support his family over the past number of years.
The Senate passed the Second Chance Act by unanimous consent on March 11th after the House passed its bill on November 13, 2007 by a vote of 347-62. It is expected that the President will sign the bill into law in the coming weeks. The full text of the Second Chance Act can be found at http://thomas.loc.gov/