Supporters of CORI Reform Testify to Joint Committee on Judiciary March & Rally in Front of MA Statehouse

BOSTON/State House - Activists and supporters of Criminal Offender Record Information (CORI) reform testified to the Joint Committee on the Judiciary at the Statehouse Monday. Young supporters marched that morning from Reggie Lewis Track to the State house where they held a rally and speak-out outside the building. Photos by Elise Filo. © Elise Filo 2009. View all In their march to the State House supporters waved signs that read "Support CORI Reform. It's 20 Years Overdue " and "CORI Reform = Stronger Economy." A number of tourists who had stopped to admire the State House golden dome also observed the crowd of about 75 and listened in on several speeches by State legislators Byron Rushing and Sonia Chang-Diaz and Reverend Jeffrey Brown of the Ten Point Coalition. Photos by David Goodman. View all Joint Committee on the Judiciary Hearing Following the outdoor rally activists proceeded to gather inside the building in the Gardner Auditorium to meet supporters already attending a Joint Committee on the Judiciary hearing on a CORI reform bill introduced and supported by Governor Deval Patrick. The room swelled with over 400 attendees many of whom waved signs depicting the scales of justice tipped by lost tax revenue and dollar bills with George Washington asking for reform. In his testimony Governor Patrick told the Committee "Meaningful employment is fundamental to success. But people with criminal records often never get the chance to make the case for their own hiring—because even with all the requisite skills and experience a criminal record becomes an absolute bar to hiring. Without the stability and the dignity of a job ex-offenders too often make bad or desperate choices. We need a better way." Mayor Thomas Menino also testified in support of CORI reform telling members of the Committee "I believe with some changes we can give folks an opportunity to turn their lives around to help them make a positive difference in our neighborhoods. [...] There is no time to waste." According to the Commonwealth CORI Coalition which supports reform there is agreement among unions community organizations and faith-based groups that broad use of CORI checks make finding a job too difficult for people who have served time in prison and are now ready to work and support themselves. Photos by Jesse Kirdahy-Scalia. View all David Dennis an attorney from Fall River who testified in support of CORI reform told Open Media Boston that in his experience CORI "prevents people from getting jobs from re-entering the workforce. It's been very destructive to far too many people in the Commonwealth. It doesn't do what it's intended to do. [...] It's not allowing people to matriculate back into their communities. It's preventing people from getting jobs it's preventing people from getting public housing." Steven Freedman who was released from prison seven years ago (under current CORI laws misdemeanor offenses remain on record for ten years felony offenses for fifteen) shared with the Committee how CORI has made it difficult for him to find work and subsequently to pay rent and bills. After struggling to find work for the past year he was finally hired from a pool of 150 applicants but only Freedman said because the employer did not check his criminal record. "Had that happened I would have probably been screened out like all of the other jobs." In a press release Wilnelia Rivera of the organization Neighbor to Neighbor and Chair of the Coalition said “In the midst of the current fiscal and economic crisis we can no longer afford to ignore an outdated system that keeps motivated residents from getting and keeping jobs increases unemployment and reliance on public assistance and decreases workforce productivity and tax revenue.” Some business leaders oppose changing the status quo saying they need flexibility to screen out certain job seekers. Web Resources: http://www.n2nma.org/home.htm http://www.massaflcio.org/cori-reform-now!-public-hearing-cori Bookmark/Search this post with: Delicious Digg StumbleUpon Reddit Newsvine Facebook Google Yahoo Technorati