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Drug crimes (primarily selling drugs) can render individuals unable to get student loans or financial aid.
I personally feel that is a ridiculous thing to do as usually people sell drugs because they cannot find a job or don't know how to do any other sort of work. Allowing them, once they are so-called rehabilitated via our prison system to get an education to better their skills will make them less likely to go back to a life of crime. I remember when I worked in housing we would have single mothers who got out of prison for a year for selling drugs when they didn't have a job and they would automatically be denied for housing because of that. So many of them would beg and plead for a place in the projects. We'd have to refer them to homeless services. Their kids could be taken away from them due to lack of work/home and options for a place in a shelter or the kids themselves would be homeless. They could not get any sort of public assistance nor could they get financial aid to go back to school to better themselves and Atlanta has few programs that help ex-offenders like most places around the country. So these sorts of laws they really **** me off really because you are just setting that person back up to remain a criminal. They can't get a job due to their record, can't get a place to live, can't get foodstamps or welfare or childcare assistance, and can't even get financial aid to go to school based on something that happened one time in their life. All they have left is to go back to selling drugs or to become a prostitute and that is what happens all over the country based on these ridiculous laws.
In regards to $15 an hour, it sounds like a lot but that is only about $31000 a year and is not enough to live off of comfortably even for one person. If someone makes $31K per year and has a kid, they could still qualify for food stamps in many areas.
I think the suburban increase in poverty is to do with gentrification and rents especially in inner cities becoming very un-affordable for many people who are not super poor but also are not stable income-wise.
Give me a break. People sell drugs to get ahead and make more money rather then doing things the ethical way. Its all about greed plain and simple.
I have zero pitty for those that you are describing.
Give me a break. People sell drugs to get ahead and make more money rather then doing things the ethical way. Its all about greed plain and simple.
I have zero pitty for those that you are describing.
I don't have pity either for them going to jail/prison.
However, once people "pay their debt to society" I just don't think it is reasonable to continue to punish them for something they are supposedly rehabilitated from.
Also, I have worked a lot with extremely poverty stricken people and people who have gotten out of prison after short stints based on drug selling. Most drug dealers start out IMO because they are lazy and don't want to get a job or education. However, almost all of them when they get out of prison want to reform and not go back to prison, yet they are prevented from getting ahead due to these laws. I personally believe they are illegal laws and wish someone would sue about them.
I do pity the children of these people though. Many of them end up homeless and live hard lives based on their parents inability to rebound from their past mistakes and they are the main reasons why I have pity and would like to see these laws/regulations changed. Parents' lifestyles are usually repeated by the children and children are reared in areas where their parents can afford so this sets up a new generation of criminals. Unfortunately, I have even seen it first hand in my own family. I have a cousin who spent almost 10 years in prison for drug trafficking starting in the late 1990s. He had 4 kids and those kids are now grown (they grew up in low income apartments and public housing with a mother who also sold drugs - marijuana - but was never caught). Two of the 4 "kids" have also gone to prison for selling drugs. One of them, was shocked that when he got out and wanted to go to a trade school that he was denied financial aid based on his conviction and time spent in prison. He couldn't find a job based on his record. He ended up having to live with his mom who is still selling marijuana and she pressured him to contribute to the family. He ended up back in prison for selling more hardcore drugs and will be there for 5 years. He is only 21 years old. Stuff like this is a common occurrence. I personally believe the "war on drugs" is a failure and that it is ridiculous that only drug dealers are denied financial aid and social welfare assistance, yet drug addicts are allowed all the above. IMO both are breaking the law and should be punished the same way. Due to the fact that a large amount of addicts today are white and working class or above in the burbs, those laws would change immediately to allow those offenders to better their lives.
Drug crimes (primarily selling drugs) can render individuals unable to get student loans or financial aid.
I personally feel that is a ridiculous thing to do as usually people sell drugs because they cannot find a job or don't know how to do any other sort of work. Allowing them, once they are so-called rehabilitated via our prison system to get an education to better their skills will make them less likely to go back to a life of crime. I remember when I worked in housing we would have single mothers who got out of prison for a year for selling drugs when they didn't have a job and they would automatically be denied for housing because of that. So many of them would beg and plead for a place in the projects. We'd have to refer them to homeless services. Their kids could be taken away from them due to lack of work/home and options for a place in a shelter or the kids themselves would be homeless. They could not get any sort of public assistance nor could they get financial aid to go back to school to better themselves and Atlanta has few programs that help ex-offenders like most places around the country. So these sorts of laws they really **** me off really because you are just setting that person back up to remain a criminal. They can't get a job due to their record, can't get a place to live, can't get foodstamps or welfare or childcare assistance, and can't even get financial aid to go to school based on something that happened one time in their life. All they have left is to go back to selling drugs or to become a prostitute and that is what happens all over the country based on these ridiculous laws.
In regards to $15 an hour, it sounds like a lot but that is only about $31000 a year and is not enough to live off of comfortably even for one person. If someone makes $31K per year and has a kid, they could still qualify for food stamps in many areas.
I think the suburban increase in poverty is to do with gentrification and rents especially in inner cities becoming very un-affordable for many people who are not super poor but also are not stable income-wise.
Well the good thing is that Georgia is actually becoming a national model of sorts on how to reform the criminal justice system which includes removing obstacles to allowing ex-offenders to become contributing members to society.
Well the good thing is that Georgia is actually becoming a national model of sorts on how to reform the criminal justice system which includes removing obstacles to allowing ex-offenders to become contributing members to society.
I do feel more states are doing what they can to help ex-offenders. I had heard of Gov Deal's plans in the first article you posted.
But regardless, those plans do not negate the federal laws regarding financial aid in particular or housing issues.
The man spoken of in the first article, who worked in the Governor's mansion was lucky in that he got a spot in an ex-offender program via Goodwill. Those programs are few across the nation and they have a cap on participants. (FWIW Goodwill helps a lot of ex-offenders and people who are developmentally disabled get jobs and it is one of the reasons why I support that organization. One of my employers in Atlanta always recruited a few people from Goodwill when we could). IMO there needs to be reform at the federal level primarily in regards to financial aid. People need to get an education today to better themselves and their families. Most offenders who I dealt with in my work all have children and the children face a better chance at doing well in life if their parents also get that chance after serving their time.
I do feel more states are doing what they can to help ex-offenders. I had heard of Gov Deal's plans in the first article you posted.
But regardless, those plans do not negate the federal laws regarding financial aid in particular or housing issues.
The man spoken of in the first article, who worked in the Governor's mansion was lucky in that he got a spot in an ex-offender program via Goodwill. Those programs are few across the nation and they have a cap on participants. (FWIW Goodwill helps a lot of ex-offenders and people who are developmentally disabled get jobs and it is one of the reasons why I support that organization. One of my employers in Atlanta always recruited a few people from Goodwill when we could). IMO there needs to be reform at the federal level primarily in regards to financial aid. People need to get an education today to better themselves and their families. Most offenders who I dealt with in my work all have children and the children face a better chance at doing well in life if their parents also get that chance after serving their time.
I agree about federal laws; they are completely nonsensical and counterproductive. Michelle Alexander's book The New Jim Crow does an excellent job in laying all of this out.
Gentrification definitely plays a role. Pushing the poor out of the urban center of the city to welcome people with money and driving up housing costs. The suburbs remain cheaper and people look there to have a roof over their head. Can you blame them?
Give me a break. People sell drugs to get ahead and make more money rather then doing things the ethical way. Its all about greed plain and simple.
I have zero pitty for those that you are describing.
I don't think its that simple. What would you do if you were basically sentenced to live out your formative years in an economically depressed region of town with failing schools, surrounded by crime and regularly harassed by law enforcement *even when you haven't' done anything wrong*? What if the only job regularly available to you in this circumstance is at minimum wage, where the compensation (no matter how hard you work) won't give you enough resources to improve your circumstances?
I think its far less 'cut and dry' than you are suggesting.
I don't think its that simple. What would you do if you were basically sentenced to live out your formative years in an economically depressed region of town with failing schools, surrounded by crime and regularly harassed by law enforcement *even when you haven't' done anything wrong*? What if the only job regularly available to you in this circumstance is at minimum wage, where the compensation (no matter how hard you work) won't give you enough resources to improve your circumstances?
I think its far less 'cut and dry' than you are suggesting.
I hope I would take the route a lot of people in that situation take...go to school, study hard, learn all I can, and make sure I get out of that situation. People do it all the time, and it is quite possible if the motivation is there. I realize motivation may be a hard thing to find if you don't have a competent, involved parent/guardian and the pressures of the lifestyle can be overwhelming - but it's certainly not impossible. Selling drugs is the easy/lazy way out and it looks like easy money. Self improvement and responsibility are much harder but far more rewarding.
As far as failing schools go, they are only failing statistically. Those schools have many competent, dedicated teachers and individual students can excel. Sometimes it only takes getting with the right teacher or maybe getting a slight bit of attention at home, but those "failing" schools can be the gateway to a better life.
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Mutiny77
Increasing gentrification, more immigrants moving to the suburbs, cheaper housing, etc. are some of the causes. And in conservative states in particular, there has been more opposition to programs that help the poor within the past couple of years.
I don't have pity either for them going to jail/prison.
However, once people "pay their debt to society" I just don't think it is reasonable to continue to punish them for something they are supposedly rehabilitated from.
Also, I have worked a lot with extremely poverty stricken people and people who have gotten out of prison after short stints based on drug selling. Most drug dealers start out IMO because they are lazy and don't want to get a job or education. However, almost all of them when they get out of prison want to reform and not go back to prison, yet they are prevented from getting ahead due to these laws. I personally believe they are illegal laws and wish someone would sue about them.
I do pity the children of these people though. Many of them end up homeless and live hard lives based on their parents inability to rebound from their past mistakes and they are the main reasons why I have pity and would like to see these laws/regulations changed. Parents' lifestyles are usually repeated by the children and children are reared in areas where their parents can afford so this sets up a new generation of criminals. Unfortunately, I have even seen it first hand in my own family. I have a cousin who spent almost 10 years in prison for drug trafficking starting in the late 1990s. He had 4 kids and those kids are now grown (they grew up in low income apartments and public housing with a mother who also sold drugs - marijuana - but was never caught). Two of the 4 "kids" have also gone to prison for selling drugs. One of them, was shocked that when he got out and wanted to go to a trade school that he was denied financial aid based on his conviction and time spent in prison. He couldn't find a job based on his record. He ended up having to live with his mom who is still selling marijuana and she pressured him to contribute to the family. He ended up back in prison for selling more hardcore drugs and will be there for 5 years. He is only 21 years old. Stuff like this is a common occurrence. I personally believe the "war on drugs" is a failure and that it is ridiculous that only drug dealers are denied financial aid and social welfare assistance, yet drug addicts are allowed all the above. IMO both are breaking the law and should be punished the same way. Due to the fact that a large amount of addicts today are white and working class or above in the burbs, those laws would change immediately to allow those offenders to better their lives.
You and others are trying to paint a picture of drug sellers are such oppressed people and need so much help. You are being dishonest by doing so.
They sell drugs because they have decided to take the easy way out, after all in the black community drug dealers are glorified and treated like kings. The biggest issue in this country right now is people not taking responsibility for their OWN actions. Blame everybody else and "the system". Kids tattoo their foreheads and dress like thugs, but its somehow my fault that their application got trashed after the first interview.
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