Why You Should Hire a Felon
The Pursuit of Happiness – Denied
Why do I believe you should hire a felon? It’s been said that when somebody has something to prove, they will move mountains for you. How much does an individual coming out of a situation such as prison have to prove? Plenty. Not only to you as an employer, not only to society in general, but also to his family and everyone else who doesn’t believe that someone who has been imprisoned can make anything of themselves in life. President Kennedy stated in an article titled, Address to the American Newspaper Publishers, "An error does not become a mistake until you refuse to correct it. We intend to accept full responsibility for our errors; and we expect you to point them out when we miss them” (Kennedy). Why should anyone feel that any individual who has made an error in their life be denied the opportunity to provide for his or her family? Do I believe that this is an error? Yes, and I plan to point it out.
Why as a country would we not want to prevent a relapse of criminal activity in all communities? Is it because it’s not your community? We need to look at it from all perspectives, not just our own. Most people in prison think, that when they get out, all they want to do is get a job. Some felons feel that if they can work the kitchen in a jail and make a dollar and fifty cents a day, then it is definitely possible to make it out there doing it for seven to nine dollars an hour”. Convicts or felons, whichever is politically correct, don’t ever want to go back to prison. All they want to do is have an opportunity to do something different. After spending a while in prison, most people would naturally start to hope for something better, but yet we deny them the opportunity.
There are several laws and acts that have been put into place to keep those who have been in prison from improving their quality of life. For example, there are laws that keep people from obtaining other types of housing, forcing them to
Why do I believe you should hire a felon? It’s been said that when somebody has something to prove, they will move mountains for you. How much does an individual coming out of a situation such as prison have to prove? Plenty. Not only to you as an employer, not only to society in general, but also to his family and everyone else who doesn’t believe that someone who has been imprisoned can make anything of themselves in life. President Kennedy stated in an article titled, Address to the American Newspaper Publishers, "An error does not become a mistake until you refuse to correct it. We intend to accept full responsibility for our errors; and we expect you to point them out when we miss them” (Kennedy). Why should anyone feel that any individual who has made an error in their life be denied the opportunity to provide for his or her family? Do I believe that this is an error? Yes, and I plan to point it out.
Why as a country would we not want to prevent a relapse of criminal activity in all communities? Is it because it’s not your community? We need to look at it from all perspectives, not just our own. Most people in prison think, that when they get out, all they want to do is get a job. Some felons feel that if they can work the kitchen in a jail and make a dollar and fifty cents a day, then it is definitely possible to make it out there doing it for seven to nine dollars an hour”. Convicts or felons, whichever is politically correct, don’t ever want to go back to prison. All they want to do is have an opportunity to do something different. After spending a while in prison, most people would naturally start to hope for something better, but yet we deny them the opportunity.
There are several laws and acts that have been put into place to keep those who have been in prison from improving their quality of life. For example, there are laws that keep people from obtaining other types of housing, forcing them to
Cited: Bowie, Nile “Profit Driven Prison Industrial Complex: The Economics of Incarceration in the USA. For every 100,000 Americans, 743 citizens sit behind bars.” Web. Image 10 April 2012. Cronin, Jake. "The Path to Successful Reentry: The Relationship Between Correctional Education, Employment and Recidivism." Ipp.missouri.edu. Web. 09 April 2012. Kennedy, John F. “Address to the American Newspaper Publishers” Americanrhetoric.com. Web. 09 April 2012. “Race and the Drug War.” Drugpolicy.org. Web. 09 April 2012 Stevens, Leslie F. “Employee Theft: Clearly A Problem” Hiresafe.com. Web. 09 April 2012.