Second Chance Act May Give Ex-Cons A New Lease on Life

Kim Pearson — Sun, 04 May 2008 23:23:30 -0500

Following a rare display of bipartisan unity, Pres. Bush signed the Second Chance Act of 2007 into law last month. If fully implemented, the law will allow thousands of prisoners convicted of non-violent crimes to return home with drug treatment, counseling and support to get their lives on track. The trick, though, is figuring out who is eligible and what support will really be available.

Sponsored by Sen. Joe Biden (D-Del) in the Senate the bills' cosponsors included not only rival presidential candidates Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama, but also staunch conservatives such as Sen. Sam Brownback (R-KS). The House version, sponsored by Rep. Danny Davis (D-Ill) had 94 co-sponsors. At the April 9 signing ceremony, Pres. Bush said,

The country was built on the belief that each human being has limitless
potential and worth. Everybody matters. We believe that even those who
have struggled with a dark past can find brighter days ahead. One way we
act on that belief is by helping former prisoners who've paid for their
crimes -- we help them build new lives as productive members of our
society.

Jeralyn Merritt of TalkLeft followed the bill's journey into law closely, and has become the "go-to" person in the blogosphere for those seeking to undrestand how it works. At the time of the law's passage, she wrote:

First, the act will authorize important parts of the administration's
Prison Re-entry Initiative. The goal of this initiative is to help
America's prisoners by expanding job training and placement services,
improving their ability to find transitional housing, and helping newly
released prisoners get mentoring, including from faith-based groups.

Lbsbsac noted that for once, Congress and the President were praised by groups that rarely agree on much of anything, but noted this concern;

Still, advocates are calling on supporters to contact their
representatives in Congress to ensure that the programs under the Act
are fully funded. “Even though the Second Chance Act is law, no
resources will be available until Congress votes to allocate funding
for the Act’s programs,” Faces and Voices of Recovery noted in a recent action alert.

That anxiety is understandable when you read the stories of real families hoping that the law will help them. At Lawyers.com, Jeralyn Merritt fielded a question from the grandchild of a terminally ill prisoner hoping tthat the law would allow him to spend his last days at home. Merritt's response was probably not what the questioner was hoping for:

One portion of the bill pertains to early release
of federal elderly prisoners. It is a limited pilot program called the
Elderly and Family Reunification for Certain Nonviolent Offenders. It
will be in place at only one federal prison. In order to qualify for
it, the prisoner must be at least 65 years old and serving a sentence
of less than life in prison for a nonviolent offense that also is not a
sex crime. He or she has to have served more than 10 years, or 75% of
their original sentence, whichever is greater.

Sound daunting? There's more....

Merrit said these provisions of the law won't even kick in until next year sometime.

Others, like this prisoner's wife, are also looking for answers:

My biggest question now is the 'SECOND CHANCE ACT' recently signed by
Bush. Apparently, several of the men at the facility my husband is at
will benefit from this signing..... including my husband. I need
information on Halfway Houses in Houston and every time i use an engine
search i get mostly articles pertaining to people in and out and of
course, the community not wanting them. Can anyone tell me the best way
to get REAL information on Federal Halfway Houses in Houston??? My
husband still has a year before he will be released to one..... but I
would still like to get info asap.

Despite the confusion, if the government ponies up the estimated $360 million that the Congressional Budget Office says will be needed between now and 2012,

One convict who blogs by letter, George Martorano, says there are a lot of non-violent prisoners who become repeat offenders because they don't know how to re-integrate into society. After a colorful interview with one such offender, he concludes:

Moon Mullens did not tell me the truth-see prison is home to him, 3
meals, a bed and some friends-robbing a bank was JUST a way back to
that for him.
There are thousands of Moon Mullens in America today. Old harmless
convicts with no -one in there lives-no programs to assisit them-Some,
like Moon, just throw rocks at windows to get back in here, sad.
I hope this Second Chance Act is successful. If it does fail, it will
be due to the lack of input by “changed” convicts, a jelly bean from
the same jar of sorts-heck, he does know the other jelly beans in it.

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Second Chance Act May Give Ex-Cons A New Lease on Life