Prisoner’s: The Last American Population Fighting Against Slavery
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Juneteenth, signifies the day of freedom for all slaves. It is known as the longest running African American holiday, a day long celebration for our independence. In honor of recognizing our ancestors history, it feels befitting to also recognize those…
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WHEN BEING TALL AND DARK IS SEEN AS A THREAT
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I have lost count of the many times I have heard women, both family members and friends coo over men they considered “tall, dark, and handsome.” And for some of those women, the taller and darker, the better! These characteristics…
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Cash Bail: A Structural Racist and Legal System Racket
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The fifth and fourteenth amendments of the U.S Constitution declares protections for the accused. It says defendants are “Innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.” So why is it that 6 out of 10 people are housed in jail…
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Surviving a Criminal Record
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People with criminal records in America struggle systematically in many different ways, including, but not limited to voting, education, and even housing. What is arguably the worst part of this is that criminal records are very common in our country….
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Room for Rent
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In December 2005, at the age of 22, I agreed to 7-years deferred adjudication in lieu of facing a prison sentence. Naively, I thought I dodged the bullet and assumed probation was nothing more than a monthly urinary analysis. I…
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Mandatory Sentencing: The False Masked Scare Tactic
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In 1984 the Sentencing Reform Act was passed into legislation introducing mandatory sentencing to the criminal justice system. Essentially this means that a committee got together and discussed different crime violations and decided on a non-negotiable amount of time an…
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Bearing the Barriers
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The justice system, specifically the housing system, of America can make life much more difficult for someone with a criminal record. For example, though millions of people are released from jails and prisons combined every year in America, many of…
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TRAP DOOR
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Probation and Parole is often described as a trap, one foot in the door (prison) one foot out. For many offenders who can’t afford adequate counsel, probation can seem like a saving grace a second chance, a way to avoid…
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Locked Out: Housing Ban for the Formerly Incarcerated
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Having a criminal record comes with a price even after one has served his or her time. Criminal records have long-lasting effects on individuals even after their probation or parole term has expired. Being labeled a “criminal” with a criminal…
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THE UNITED STATES HAS AN ADDICTION: IT’S PUNISHMENT
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History students across the country grow up learning that the United States of America is “the land of the free” but what they aren’t being taught is that the US is also the land of the harshly punished and overly…
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