Opinion: Give low-level drug offenders a clean slate, reduce inequality

Leland Ware | The News Journal

Leland Ware is a professor of administration and public policy at the University of Delaware.

We have many things to be proud of in the United States, but our high incarceration rate and the disproportionate racial outcomes of our criminal justice system are not included in that list.

The population of people incarcerated in this country is greater than the number of people living in some of our major cities, and people of color face prison sentences about 20 percent longer than their white counterparts for similar crimes. Neither our economy nor our society can bear that burden any longer.

U.S. Rep. Blunt Rochester has introduced the Clean Slate Act and she needs our support for her efforts. The Act would automatically seal a person’s federal prison record if he or she has been convicted of nonviolent misdemeanor drug crimes like simple possession and other low-level, nonviolent offenses involving marijuana. It would allow individuals to petition federal courts to seal records for nonviolent offenses that are not automatically sealed and create a two-year window for individuals to re-petition the court if their initial request is denied.

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The Clean Slate Act would ensure that those convictions don't saddle offenders with what amount to lifetime sentences and give them an equal opportunity to reenter society.

We’re fortunate in Delaware to have a leader in Congress who agrees and is working on securing bipartisan support for a proposal to help federal offenders get the clean slate they deserve. As thinking on drug offenses has shifted, it has become apparent that individuals with low-level drug convictions who have served their time, met all the terms of their parole, and committed to remaining crime-free are unduly penalized by their criminal records.

People on both sides of the aisle believe our system should do more than locking people up. This issue transcends political factions and brings people from even the most extreme sides of each aisle together.

Support for this proposal includes the Center for American Progress, a left-wing think tank, and FreedomWorks, a right-wing think tank.

Punishing people who commit a crime is one purpose of the criminal justice system, but it cannot be the only one. Approximately 95 percent of individuals in prison will at some point be released.

It's time for reentry and rehabilitation to become a central focus of our criminal justice system.

Minor records or even a single arrest can create barriers in employment, housing, and education. Individuals with nonviolent drug convictions are punished long after the terms of their sentences are complete.

These individuals don't pose a risk to public safety – they only to want to improve their life chances. Continuing to punish them burdens our court system while doing nothing to protect us.

With the Clean Slate Act, Rep. Blunt Rochester is taking steps to reverse the long-term societal barriers and consequences that were created by the war on drugs over the past 40 years. By helping ex-offenders in their efforts getting a job, finding housing, or getting an education, we help put them on a path to success.

Giving them the opportunity to lead fulfilling lives doesn't just reduce recidivism, it prevents an inefficient system from overburdening federal and state budgets as well as court dockets.

I believe that Rep. Blunt Rochester is a unique and needed voice in Congress. She is working to ensure our criminal justice system does not produce dramatic incarceration rates or disproportionate racial outcomes.

Our system needs to be reformed. I’m proud of the work she is doing to bring people from both sides of the aisle together to give nonviolent offenders the opportunity to be productive citizens.