Opinion - In the US, all criminal records are life sentences
Although the idea of a 'second chance' is celebrated, the reality is that the door to opportunity remains shut for millions of Americans coming out of prison. Without access to stable jobs and financial independence, many end up back behind bars or at least continue to have some kind of involvement with the criminal justice system.
Each year, more than 600,000 people are released from state and federal prisons. According to the Bureau of Justice Statistics, about two-thirds of those released will be rearrested within three years. One of the main contributors to this staggering recidivism rate is the inability to find meaningful employment.
A study from the Prison Policy Initiative found that the unemployment rate for formerly incarcerated individuals is nearly five times higher than the general population. For Black men with criminal records, the rate is even higher. It comes down to the fact that most employers conduct background checks. Even a quick internet search often reveals a past record, even if the offense was nonviolent or occurred many years ago.
With limited employment options, financial stability becomes unattainable, and the likelihood of reoffending increases.
If we are serious about reducing recidivism and supporting successful reentry, we should work to dismantle the systemic barriers that prevent people with criminal records from rebuilding their lives. I have three suggestions.
First, we should expunge criminal records from internet search results. In the U.S., if someone goes bankrupt, there is no searchable evidence of that bankruptcy after 10 years. However, if you make a mistake with something as simple as failure to appear in court or a charge of driving under the influence, your record appears in internet searches in perpetuity. These search engine results undermine even the most well-intentioned and best-prepared job applicants. This goes directly against the basic American ideal that everyone deserves a second chance.
A sensible reform would involve requiring search engines and third-party data aggregators to remove criminal records from search results after a designated period, particularly for nonviolent offenses. If Google can tweak its algorithms to demote low-quality content in search results in an effort to combat 'fake news,' it can give people who have been incarcerated a way to expunge their online record after a period of time or through some fair process, helping individuals move on with their lives without their past defining their future.
Second, we should provide tax credits to employers who hire individuals with criminal records. Financial incentives can be a powerful tool in encouraging businesses to do this. A federal tax credit program specifically designed for employers who hire formerly incarcerated individuals would reduce perceived risks and encourage companies to make these hires.
Although the Work Opportunity Tax Credit already offers some benefits, they are very limited in that they are available to employers of individuals who have been convicted of a felony or released from prison for a felony only within the last year. A system of tiered incentives based on retention rates could further encourage long-term employment and stability.
Third, we should support entrepreneurship for people with criminal records. Not every citizen returning to life on the outside will find traditional employment opportunities, but entrepreneurship provides an alternative path. Starting a small business allows individuals to take control of their financial future and contribute positively to their communities.
Unlike corporate hiring managers, customers rarely ask small-business owners about their criminal backgrounds. They care about the quality of the product or service. Entrepreneurship training programs and mentorship initiatives can help people with criminal records build sustainable businesses.
My organization has demonstrated the effectiveness of this approach. By equipping individuals with practical skills and ongoing support, these programs reduce recidivism and foster economic growth.
Second Chance Month serves as a reminder that redemption and rehabilitation are possible — but only if we remove the significant obstacles that stand in the way.
Outside of people whose ancestors are from Africa, in America, all of our ancestors started anew and got a second chance. In this way, second chance is not a concept — it is central to what we are all about. Today, we are not living up to this basic principle.
Brian Hamiltonis a nationally-recognized entrepreneur and the chairman of LiveSwitch. He is the founder of Inmates to Entrepreneurs, where he serves as the leading voice on the power of ownership to transform lives. He is well known for being the founder of Sageworks (now Abrigo), the country's first fintech company. He is also the star of 'Free Enterprise,' an award-winning show on ABC based on Inmates to Entrepreneurs.
Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Newsweek
9 minutes ago
- Newsweek
Trump's Assault on D.C. Is a Grave Threat to the District and Democracy
President Donald Trump is federalizing control of the local police and deploying the National Guard in Washington, D.C., to further his authoritarian and anti-democratic agenda. As autocrats commonly do, Trump is seeking control over the national capital in order to intimidate and squelch dissent. Like despots around the world and throughout history, Trump is also relying on the pretextual deployment of military force to intimidate and project power, to suppress protest and undercut democracy. Across the nation, Americans should protest this move and what it means for our democracy. They should worry that Trump will misuse claims of national emergency to block peaceful protest and that he will deploy troops to deter demonstrators, or worse. President Donald Trump takes questions from reporters after signing an executive order in the South Court Auditorium in the Eisenhower Executive Office Building on Aug. 5, 2025, in Washington, D.C. President Donald Trump takes questions from reporters after signing an executive order in the South Court Auditorium in the Eisenhower Executive Office Building on Aug. 5, 2025, in Washington, is a move of dubious legality and no necessity. The Home Rule Act governing the District of Columbia gives the president authority to take control of the metropolitan police force when there are "special conditions of an emergency nature." There are no special conditions and there is no emergency. Like everyone, Washingtonians want to be secure in their person, but everyday street crime does not constitute an emergency—especially when the Justice Department's own statistics show the violent crime rate in the District is at its lowest point in decades. There is a major crime problem in Washington, D.C., but it's not the one Trump is talking about—and it's one the administration is making that far worse. Corporate crime and wrongdoing—pollution, dangerous products, financial fraud and scams, unsafe workplaces, and more—inflicts far more damage on people than street crime, whether measured by dollars, injuries, or lives. But Trump and Attorney General Pam Bondi are epically weak on corporate crime enforcement—probably the weakest in American history. They are ending investigations and prosecutions into corporations, announcing no-prosecute policies against whole areas of corporate wrongdoing, and redirecting law enforcement resources away from corporate crime and toward its mass deportation agenda. Trump is also complaining about homelessness in D.C. There is, in fact, a significant housing problem in Washington, D.C., like there is throughout the nation. But on this score, Trump is doing nothing to help—and actively making things worse. Telling people without housing that they have to "move out" of the District, as Trump has done, does nothing to actually address that problem. Investing more in housing would help, but there were no such investments in Trump's tax and budget reconciliation bill—he was too busy conferring giant tax breaks on the super rich and corporations and stripping health care coverage from everyday Americans. Those health care cuts will significantly worsen homelessness—both because health care is key to help people without housing and because Medicaid is often used for supportive housing. Providing support to people with addiction issues would also help address the homelessness challenge; instead, the administration is considering withholding already appropriated funding for responding to fentanyl overdoses. Trump's actions have nothing to do with anything happening in Washington, D.C. Trump is motivated instead to advance his authoritarian agenda and to distract from his political weakness. This aligns perfectly with his other despotic tendencies, for example his enemies lists, his mantra of "loyalists only"—particularly those who support his election denialism—to key appointments, and Pam Biondi's recent move to deputize Ed Martin to investigate perceived opponents like Adam Schiff and Tish James. Washington, D.C. does not need National Guard members—who signed up to address genuine national security threats and actual emergencies, not to be political pawns—on our streets. Instead, what we in D.C. need is representation in Congress and more federal funding to mitigate the restrictions on the District's power of taxation. But this is an issue of import that goes far beyond the interests of the people of Washington, D.C.—and not just because D.C. is our nation's capital. Trump is now broadcasting that he hopes to militarize law enforcement in cities across the country. Whether the nation tolerates—or rises up to oppose—Trump's actions in Washington will very meaningfully impact whether the country goes down a democratic or authoritarian path. Robert Weissman and Lisa Gilbert are Public Citizen co-presidents. The views expressed in this article are the writers' own.
New York Post
10 minutes ago
- New York Post
Influencer Ethan Guo, 19, stranded in the Chilean Antarctic since landing plane without permission
What was intended as a fundraising mission for cancer research has become a nightmare for American teen influencer Ethan Guo, who has been stuck since June in a remote location in Chilean territory in Antarctica. Authorities say Guo landed his small plane illegally after providing false flight plan information to officials who opened an investigation. Guo made headlines last year when the then-19-year-old teen began a trip in an attempt to become the youngest person to fly solo to all seven continents and, at the same time, collect donations for research into childhood cancer. 4 American teen influencer Ethan Guo has been stuck since June in a remote location in Chilean territory in Antarctica. AP As part of his trip, the teen, who identifies as Asian American, planned to go to the Antarctic, but according to the authorities, he lied to officials by providing authorities with 'false flight plan data.' Prosecutors said he had been authorized to only fly over Punta Arenas, but that he kept going south, heading for Antarctica in his Cessna 182Q — a single-engine light aircraft known for its versatility. Guo was charged on June 29 with handing false information to ground control and landing without authorization, but on Monday, a judge dropped the charges as part of an agreement with his lawyers and Chile's prosecutors. It requires the teen to give a $30,000 donation to a children's cancer foundation within 30 days to avoid a trial. He must also leave the country as soon as conditions allow and is prohibited from reentering Chilean territory for three years. On Monday, after the judge's ruling, Guo told The Associated Press in a text message that he was 'relieved by the outcome.' 4 Guo was charged on June 29 with handing false information to ground control and landing without authorization, but on Monday, a judge dropped the charges as part of an agreement with his lawyers and Chile's prosecutors. @ For the past six weeks, since being charged, he has stayed at a military base. He was not forced to stay there, only to remain in Chilean territory, but because of the severe winter in that part of the southern hemisphere, there haven't been any available flights he could take. And he has been unable to fly his Cessna. 4 Authorities say Guo landed his small plane illegally after providing false flight plan information to officials who opened an investigation. Reuters Chilean prosecutor Cristián Crisoto on Monday told reporters that Guo's plane 'does not have the capabilities to make a flight,' without providing details. But the American teen influencer said he is talking with this lawyer to see if there's a way he can fly it. 4 Guo made headlines last year when the then-19-year-old teen began a trip in an attempt to become the youngest person to fly solo to all seven continents and collect donations for research into childhood cancer. @ 'I remain in Antarctica awaiting approval for my departure flight,' Guo told AP. 'I sincerely hope they give it to me soon so that I and my plane can continue with my original mission.' The prosecutor's office said Guo must also pay all costs for his 'aircraft security and personal maintenance' during his stay at the military facility. He also needs to cover all expenses for his return.
Chicago Tribune
10 minutes ago
- Chicago Tribune
President Donald Trump's rhetoric about DC echoes a history of racist narratives about urban crime
WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump has taken control of the District of Columbia's law enforcement and ordered National Guard troops to deploy onto the streets of the nation's capital, arguing the extraordinary moves are in response to an urgent public safety crisis. Even as district officials questioned the claims underlying his emergency declaration, the Republican president promised a 'historic action to rescue our nation's capital from crime, bloodshed, bedlam and squalor and worse.' His rhetoric echoed that used by conservative politicians going back decades who have denounced American cities, especially those with majority non-white populations or led by progressive politicians, as lawless or crime-ridden and in need of outside intervention. 'This is liberation day in D.C., and we're going to take our capital back,' Trump promised Monday. As District of Columbia National Guard troops arrived at their headquarters Tuesday, for many residents, the prospect of federal troops surging into the district's neighborhoods represented an alarming violation of local agency. To some, it echoes uncomfortable historical chapters when politicians used language to paint historically or predominantly Black cities and neighborhoods with racist narratives to shape public opinion and justify aggressive police action. April Goggans, a longtime Washington resident and grassroots organizer, said she was not surprised by Trump's actions. Communities had been preparing for a potential federal crackdown in the district since the summer of 2020, when Trump deployed National Guard troops during racial justice protests after the murder of George Floyd. 'We have to be vigilant,' said Goggans, who has coordinated protests and local civil liberties educational campaigns for nearly a decade. She worries about what a surge in law enforcement could mean for residents' freedoms. 'Regardless of where you fall on the political scale, understand that this could be you, your children, your grandmother, your co-worker who are brutalized or have certain rights violated,' she said. According to White House officials, National Guard troops will be deployed to protect federal assets in the district and facilitate a safe environment for law enforcement to make arrests. The administration believes the highly visible presence of law enforcement will deter violent crime. It is unclear how the administration defines providing a safe environment for law enforcement to conduct arrests, raising alarm bells for some local advocates. 'The president foreshadowed that if these heavy-handed tactics take root here, they will be rolled out to other majority-Black and Brown cities, like Chicago, Oakland and Baltimore, across the country,' said Monica Hopkins, executive director of the American Civil Liberties Union's D.C. chapter. 'We've seen before how federal control of the D.C. National Guard and police can lead to abuse, intimidation and civil rights violations — from military helicopters swooping over peaceful racial justice protesters in 2020 to the unchecked conduct of federal officers who remain shielded from full accountability,' Hopkins said. Conservative lawmakers have for generations used denigrating language to describe the condition of major American cities and called for greater law enforcement, often in response to changing demographics in those cities driven by nonwhite populations relocating in search of work or safety from racial discrimination and state violence. Republicans have called for greater police crackdowns in cities since at least the 1965 Watts Riots in Los Angeles. President Richard Nixon won the White House in 1968 after campaigning on a 'law and order' agenda to appeal to white voters in northern cities alongside overtures to white Southerners as part of his 'Southern Strategy.' Ronald Reagan similarly won both his presidential elections after campaigning heavily on law and order politics. Politicians ranging from former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani to former President Bill Clinton have cited the need to tamp down crime as a reason to seize power from cities like Washington for decades. District of Columbia Mayor Muriel Bowser called Trump's takeover of the local police force 'unsettling' but not without precedent. The mayor kept a mostly measured tone during a Monday news conference following Trump's announcement but decried the president's reasoning as a 'so-called emergency' and said the district's residents 'know that access to our democracy is tenuous.' Trump threatened to 'take over' and 'beautify' the nation's capital on the campaign trail and claimed the district was 'a nightmare of murder and crime.' He also argued the city was 'horribly run' and said his team intended 'to take it away from the mayor.' The president repeated comments he'd previously made about some of the nation's largest cities during his news conference, including Baltimore, Chicago, Los Angeles, Oakland, California, and his hometown of New York City. All are currently run by Black mayors. 'You look at Chicago, how bad it is. You look at Los Angeles, how bad it is. We have other cities in a very bad, New York is a problem. And then you have, of course, Baltimore and Oakland. We don't even mention that anymore. They're so far gone. We're not going to let it happen,' he said. Civil rights advocates see the president's rhetoric as part of a broader political strategy. 'It's a playbook he's used in the past,' said Maya Wiley, CEO of the Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights. The president's rhetoric 'paints a picture that crime is out of control, even when it is not true, then blames the policies of Democratic lawmakers that are reform- and public safety-minded, and then claims that you have to step in and violate people's rights or demand that reforms be reversed,' Wiley said. She added that the playbook has special potency in the capital because the district's local law enforcement can be directly placed under federal control, a power Trump invoked in his announcement. Trump's actions in Washington and comments about other major American cities sent shock waves across the country, as other cities prepare to respond to potential federal action. Democratic Maryland Gov. Wes Moore said Trump's plan 'lacks seriousness and is deeply dangerous' in a statement and pointed to a 30-year-low crime rate in Baltimore as a reason the administration should consult local leaders rather than antagonize them. In Oakland, Mayor Barbara Lee called Trump's characterization of the city 'fearmongering.' The administration already faced a major flashpoint between local control and federal power earlier in the summer, when Trump deployed National Guard troops to quell protests and support immigration enforcement operations in Los Angeles despite opposition from California Gov. Gavin Newsom and Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass. Civil rights leaders have denounced Trump's action in Washington as an unjustified distraction. 'This president campaigned on 'law and order,' but he is the president of chaos and corruption,' said NAACP President Derrick Johnson. 'There's no emergency in D.C., so why would he deploy the National Guard? To distract us from his alleged inclusion in the Epstein files? To rid the city of unhoused people? D.C. has the right to govern itself. It doesn't need this federal coup.'
