Latest news with #secondchance
Yahoo
2 days ago
- Health
- Yahoo
Springfield officials support legislation to automatically seal criminal records
SPRINGFIELD — Saying people shouldn't be punished twice for the same crime, city officials are pushing for legislation to automatically seal records for those who committed nonviolent crimes three to seven years after conviction. The Clean Slate Initiative, which is now being debated in the Legislature's Joint Committee on the Judiciary, would automatically seal records of misdemeanor crimes three years after conviction and after seven years for a felony. The law has a clause exempting some, including sex offenders and others who have committed violent felonies, from having their records sealed automatically, according to the bill. 'The intent is to give people a second chance,' said state Sen. Adam Gomez, D-Springfield, who is one of the legislators who filed the bill spearheaded by Sen. Cindy Friedman, a Democrat who represents the Fourth Middlesex district. For Gomez, the bill is especially meaningful, since he got into trouble with the law and was charged with a misdemeanor when he was a teenager. He was able to seal his record, change his life and give back to his community, but many do not have the same opportunity. Currently employers, landlords and others do background checks through the state's Criminal Offender Record Information system and find out about an applicant's legal history. Even if a person was arrested and never convicted, the charge can appear on their record. That means people who have made a mistake are left struggling to find a place to live and having difficulty making ends meet, because they can't find a good-paying job, no matter how qualified they are, Gomez said. People can apply to have their record sealed, but the process is cumbersome, timely and can be difficult for people who can't afford a lawyer, officials said. Hampden County is one of the counties with the most arrests per capita, so the bill is even more important here, Gomez said. The City Council voted last month to support the bill in a resolution that passed unanimously. All councilors asked to be listed as co-sponsors of the proposal. Gomez said he was proud to have the largest city that he represents becoming the first to officially support the bill. City Council Vice President Tracye Whitfield, who proposed the resolution, called the bill a great piece of legislation, which already has been adopted in at least a dozen other states, including neighboring Connecticut and some conservative ones such as Oklahoma and Utah. 'Clean Slate really just levels the playing field. We know that Black and Latino individuals have been and are disproportionately arrested, prosecuted, convicted and incarcerated, and the best way to fix and address this problem is to automatically seal records for low-level, nonviolent misdemeanors and low-level offenses,' she said. Multiple advocates from a variety of agencies, such as Live Well Springfield, Greater Boston Legal Services and the Urban League, spoke in support of the bill. Several talked about people who had records that followed them their entire lives. 'Clean slate is about fairness. It is about economic opportunity,' said Miles Gresham, policy director for Neighbor to Neighbor. 'It is also about public safety. People who cannot find a home and a job (are) more likely to reoffend.' There are now roughly 672,000 people statewide who are eligible to seal their records, many of whom have not committed a crime in decades. Some do not know they are eligible to clear their record, some have mental health issues, others find the petition process daunting, and some are just traumatized over the idea of returning to court, said Andrea Freeman, policy director for the Public Health Institute of Western Massachusetts. 'It is about fairness and opportunity, and it is also about health,' she said. City Councilor Lavar Click-Bruce said having an unsealed record is 'double jeopardy,' because people who paid the price for their crimes are still being punished because their record follows them when they apply for a job, an apartment and even to enter college. 'If you make a mistake, who are we to judge?' he said. 'It is a resolution that needs to be passed swiftly.' City Councilor Zaida Govan said she has been fighting for legislation like this for three decades. 'When you are in active in active addiction, you get caught up,' said Govan, who added she has been sober for 36 years. 'It is a long time coming. I'm really glad we are doing something about this.' Read the original article on MassLive.
Yahoo
3 days ago
- General
- Yahoo
Expungement clinic offers fresh start for people with criminal records
MEMPHIS, Tenn. — The Shelby County Criminal Court Clerk's Office is offering those who live in Shelby County a second chance to have a clean criminal record. This weekend, the criminal clerk's office is hosting its community Expungement Clinic. For someone with a criminal record, it can impact their ability to secure a job, find a home, or even gain higher education. Former Summer Drive-In property sold The organizers say, 'These events help people get a fresh start and provide access to second chance jobs and community resources to help them stay on track.' The clinic will be held at the Mt. Vernon Baptist Church-Westwood, located at 620 Parkrose Road, from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. The event is free and open to the public. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
CBC
4 days ago
- Business
- CBC
You don't have to almost die to be happy at work, but it helps
Singer-songwriter Aysanabee was snowshoeing across a frozen lake in remote northern Ontario over a decade ago, when the ice gave way beneath him, plunging him into frigid waters. "I could like feel the icy water filling up my snow pants and I knew I couldn't swim with the snowshoes — and all these different things are running through my mind," said Aysanabee, who is Oji-Cree, Sucker Clan of the Sandy Lake First Nation. "I just thought, 'Wow, this is it, this is it for me and I haven't done anything with my life," he told The Current's Matt Galloway. Aysanabee is now an award-winning musician, but at the time he was 19 and working for a mining company, playing music in bars in his spare time. It was around -40C on that early January day, and the young man was alone, more than six hours outside Ear Falls, Ont. But Aysanabee had managed to fall slightly forward as the ice broke, allowing him to sink an axe into the ice shelf. As he struggled to drag himself out, one swing of the axe at a time, he frantically bargained with "whoever was listening … a higher power or something." "If I get out of this, I promise … I will do this thing, I'll go play music," he remembers pledging. He eventually managed to pull himself back onto solid ground, where he started a small fire to warm up and dry off. On the long walk back to camp, he had time to reflect on how close he came to death — and what he wanted to do with this second chance. "Then, three months later, I bought a one-way ticket to Toronto to go do music," he said. At the University of Guelph, Jamie Gruman and his research team recently interviewed 14 people who suffered near-death experiences, examining the impact on their work and careers. Published in the Journal of Management, Spirituality and Religion in April, their research showed that survivors gained new insights, from a greater interest in spirituality to a belief that everyone is born equal, and here for a reason. "Specifically as a result of those things, the insights and the personal transformations, work often became much less important to people," said Gruman, a professor of organizational behaviour at Guelph University. "They thought, 'Well, why am I doing this? Like, what's the point? Is this meaningful? Does it matter?'" he said. WATCH | Aysanabee performs Near to Death, a song inspired by his experience: In the years since he fell through the ice, Aysanabee has released two critically acclaimed albums. He's been nominated for the Polaris Music Prize and took home two awards at the 2024 Junos, including Songwriter of the Year. Looking back at his younger self, he says he always knew he wanted to be a musician, but didn't know "how to do it." He credits what happened with giving him the courage to pursue that dream. "I think that whole experience definitely made me realize how precious time is," he said. "I don't want to waste any of it, you know, wondering, 'What if?'" Workers 'lost interest' in money Gruman said that what people want from their work boils down to three things: economic security, meaningful work that allows them to grow and develop, and high-quality relationships. But for the study participants who had come close to death, that changed. "They all completely lost interest in making money and any external measures of success," he said. "They didn't want big houses and cars and boats. They didn't want to be the executive vice president. They didn't want to get rich." By contrast, the desire for meaningful work and strong workplace relationships skyrocketed, he said. That led some participants to change jobs, or even completely change careers. Others were able to find what they needed by rethinking how they approached their work, Gruman said, giving the example of a teacher who "didn't really like teaching." After her near-death experience, "she considered herself now to be a teacher in the school of life," he said. "Teaching math and science was just incidental to teaching students about the importance of treating people well and living well." Like Aysanabee, a brush with death taught the participants a lesson about time. "They decided, 'Look, you know, my time here is limited, so let me make a move. And do something that speaks to my soul,'" Gruman said. Listen to your gut, says career coach Career counsellor Stephanie Koonar says there are lots of reasons people can be dissatisfied with their work, but you don't necessarily need a life-or-death experience to make a change. "A lot of it is about being in touch with your own gut instincts," said Koonar, Vancouver-based co-founder of PeerSpectives Consulting, which offers career coaching and leadership development. "My husband calls it the toothbrush challenge: in the morning when you're brushing your teeth, are you excited to go to work?" Koonar helps people dig into those feelings with the Japanese concept of ikigai, which involves asking yourself four questions: What do I love? What am I good at? What does the world need? What can I be paid for? She said the responses can offer clues to what matters most to someone, but it doesn't always mean completely changing your career to get involved with something important to you. "Maybe you're an accountant or maybe you do website development or social media but you could … seek out those organizations that are working on issues and challenges that you think are important and bring your skills and talents to them," she said. She added that bosses and managers also have a role to play. "Nowadays people don't want a boss; they want a coach," she said. "That includes helping them course correct if they've made some mistakes … [but also] spotting their strengths and talents and then maybe giving them opportunities." Ultimately, Koonar says that being happy every day at work might not be the goal. "Happiness is fleeting and at the end of our lives we are looking for more meaning," she said. "[That] might be bringing your talents and your strengths to a challenge. It may not even make you feel happy all the time … but it's rewarding because you're making a difference." For researcher Gruman, the lesson is to focus on what matters in your work life, both in terms of your own well-being and the people you build work relationships with.
Fox News
18-05-2025
- Politics
- Fox News
Alice Marie Johnson takes on 'corrupt system' as Trump's new pardon czar
Alice Marie Johnson has gone from prison to the White House, where she's leading the charge as President Donald Trump's pardon czar, and she can hardly believe the transformation. The former Trump pardonee now works with the president's administration to bring hope to those still trapped in a broken system. Speaking to "My View" host Lara Trump, she laid out her vision for the role — finding non-violent offenders who deserve a second chance, who have paid their dues to society and who have been victims of lawfare. "There are laws that have to be changed because, even in my position, I'm not going to be able to find everyone," she said. "I am going to find as many as I possibly can find, but I'm also going to be advocating [for change] and looking at the things that are out there, on the books, that need to be changed, but to also do what the president has entrusted me to do, and let's find those individuals who need their second chance, those individuals who had lost hope in a system that was totally corrupt." "We now know it's not about how much money you have. If you have a corrupt system in place, there is no one safe," she added. A series of unfortunate events, including her son's death, financial troubles and a divorce, led to Johnson's involvement with cocaine dealers in the 1990s in Memphis, Tennessee. While she claims she never "touched, saw or sold a single drug," she admitted to assisting in communications. Johnson was sentenced to life without the possibility of parole, a sentence she was "absolutely not" prepared for, nor did she think it was "warranted," but she's thankful her situation caught President Trump's attention. Trump commuted her life sentence in 2018 after she served 21 years in an Alabama prison but eventually gave her a full pardon in 2020. The president appointed her to the pardon czar position earlier this year, tasking her with identifying the best pardon candidates and assessing their readiness to reintegrate into their communities. "It's just incredible to me that my life would take a full-circle journey. Seven years ago, I was sitting in a prison cell…" she said. "…It's really easy for me because I've lived it, so the president has entrusted me with this mission."
