Few groups get pimped and played on as much as convicted felons. Once a person is branded with that scarlet “F” on their permanent record they’re forever fair game for the legal system and the politicians that make the laws.
So it must be close to election time again since yet another bill is making its way through the Ohio General Assembly that offers up another version of expungement — that false notion that a criminal record can be, if not made to completely disappear, at least neutralized so that it no longer hinders individuals in making progress in life after prison.
There was a time, years ago, when a person had to trot down to the courthouse if they wanted to look up someone’s record. However, with sites on the Internet that sell arrest records, the chances of anyone completely scrubbing away their past is virtually nil. Like bad credit, a felony record will, in all likelihood, follow a convict to their grave.
However, that fact isn’t going to stop a politician from pimping the issue, but this bill is as flawed as the last one that was voted on two years ago (that obviously didn’t solve the problem because here we are once again addressing the same issue), and it’s virtually a guarantee that in another two years yet another expungement bill will be proposed by yet another lawmaker looking to gain some votes by pretending to be a champion of former felons.
Indeed, one such legislator (who shall forever remain unnamed) was on my favorite 9am radio show this morning discussing the current expungement bill and a caller asked if the proposed legislation would address the issue of felons voting. The lawmaker, sounding stumped, admitted that he didn’t know, which is really outrageous. If this person, who gets paid to make laws, doesn’t know, then who does?
If he was truly interested in treating this demographic fairly and making them whole — and not just pimping the issue — he would have known the answer to the caller’s question: The current bill doesn’t have to address the issue of felons voting because in Ohio a person can register to vote the moment they step out of prison. I know because I did just that over 23 years ago. It’s always been that way.
But wait, this tale gets even wackier. Also on the radio show with the legislator were a number of other “expert” guests on issues involving felons from the fields of law, media and reentry services. And not one — NOT ONE! — of them knew that former felons have always had the right to vote in Ohio.
Considering how important the upcoming elections are, this stunning lack of knowledge by people who should know is downright frightening. The goal should not only to be to assist with expungement, but to assist those with convictions in becoming fully-functioning members of society — and that means exercising the franchise.
Progressives should know this: If they really want to win in the midterms they need to quit focusing so much of their attention and efforts on black congregations (that already vote at a high rate) and instead focus on those who are economically disenfranchised, left out and overlooked; those that are saying they don’t have a reason to vote. Give them one.
From CoolCleveland correspondent Mansfield B. Frazier mansfieldfATgmail.com. Frazier’s From Behind The Wall: Commentary on Crime, Punishment, Race and the Underclass by a Prison Inmate is available in hardback. Snag your copy and have it signed by the author at http://NeighborhoodSolutionsInc.