Give us felons some grace

I’ve experienced firsthand the discrimination that many felons face when pursuing gainful employment. Just like most members of civil society, I want to provide a warm meal and safe home for my family. I want to contribute to a healthy, happy community and I want fair opportunities to achieve these things.

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Columnists

January 5, 2024 - 2:37 PM

“Have you ever been convicted of a felony?” is a yes or no question found on an assortment of applications, ranging from jobs to scholarships, that most Americans answer without a second thought.

Unfortunately, I’m not most people. I have to check “yes” on this box, and then convince the person reviewing my application not to toss it in the garbage. I’m not just applying for a job. I’m persuading a complete stranger of my worth and value — convincing them to look at me in 3-D, beyond my criminal record. To achieve this significant feat, I am given two lines to explain that I’m a good person who made a poor choice.

Today, I want to tell you about my life as a felon and why we should ban the box.

My name is Lindsay Lee. I’m a committed mother, a loved one, a dutiful friend, a full-time college student and an aspiring attorney. I’m kind, generous, thoughtful and a hard worker. I am also 1 out of roughly 19 million Americans with felony convictions and just 1 of 80 million Americans with some type of criminal history.

Of course, job applications don’t ask if you’re a caring parent or attentive partner. I’ve experienced firsthand the discrimination that many felons face when pursuing gainful employment. Just like most members of civil society, I want to provide a warm meal and safe home for my family. I want to contribute to a healthy, happy community and I want fair opportunities to achieve these things.

Being a federal felon at the age of 30 was not on my list of “Achievements By 30,” but life doesn’t always go as planned. I have never been one to make things easy for myself; I was arrested for my first felony at the age of 19. Suffice to say, that set me up for an uphill climb right from the start.

After struggling with an addiction to methamphetamine on and off for seven years, I defied the odds; I walked away from using drugs and I’ve never looked back. March 20, 2009, is my own special sort of birthday, a day I was born into a new life — a sober life. But, as many who get tied up in drug addiction will tell you, finding sobriety is only one step toward recovering a life lost.

Sober but still in the mix of things, I was arrested and indicted for conspiracy to distribute methamphetamines in 2011 and sentenced to five years of federal probation. Halfway through, I was released from supervision for model behavior. Today I am still a felon, but I’m sober, I’ve paid my dues, and I’m living life with intentionality.

Our communities must come together and break the stigma of felons as dangerous criminals, people who we should “lock up and throw away the key.” We must realize there is such a thing as making a mistake and having poor judgment. Even “an addict, in the rock bottom of their active addiction,” needs grace.

Society has put felons in a constant defensive crouch. Until we aren’t treated like social pariahs — especially when time has been served and debts repaid — we won’t see changes. Proper rehabilitation is not only the human approach, but it’s the most effective in reducing recidivism.

A key part of proper rehabilitation? Allowing felons equal opportunity to find and keep fulfilling and stable employment, without the burden of past mistakes weighing us down.

Today, I’m still a felon, but a felon on a mission. This coming year, I will officially start the process to file for my presidential pardon. (Wish me luck, please!)

I have spent the past 10 years working harder than my peers to achieve basic things, simply because of my label as a felon. I am not the only felon frustrated with an antiquated, ineffective system; countless felons find themselves begging for mercy.

I want to make it easier to learn from your mistakes, and I invite you to join me by trying to “ban the box,” allowing felons to present their true, authentic selves to employers without the harmful stigma of a criminal history.

You can read more and join the effort at www.bantheboxcampaign.org.

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