[Newspoetry] Saturday at noon by OJC

[auntbarb at onthejob.net]

On Fri, 12 Nov 1999, David Young wrote:

>> 
>   
>     [ What follows is a list of unlawful discriminatory practices
>     
>     [ Various exemptions, and then a questionable exemption: ]
> 
>     (G) Persons Convicted of Drug-Related Offenses. Conduct against a
>     person because such person has been convicted by any court of
>     competent jurisdiction of the illegal manufacture or distribution of a
>     controlled substance as defined in Section 102 of the federal
>     Controlled Substances Act (21 U.S.C. 802).
> 
>     [ Various other exemptions follow ]

	Ok, I know I'm slow, and ya'll were talking about this last week,
but I'm going to point out that, at the present, there are very few laws
that protect ex-convicts from housing discrimination, reguardless of what
steps they may have made to change their lives around.  And a lot of drug
crimes are not violent offences, even though they are considered felonies
under state and federal law.  I would of course question the motives
behind the inclusion of this provision, but please keep in mind that its
often perfectly ok to discriminate against a certain class of people
UNTIL it is written specifically into law that it isn't ok.  We like to
think that people don't end up in jail unless they make a choice that puts
them there, (and this is usually true) but that isn't always the case
either.  Anyway, without ways to access housing, ex-convicts will not be
able to access the other services that might be able to keep them out of
jail in the future.  
	Right now, drug offenders are kept out of public housing in
Champaign county altogether, unless they get past the appeals process (and
whether they know about that or not depends on who they talk to).  No
matter what the offence, how long ago it was, or whether or not it
actually happened, they can only get in on appeal.  Whatever the reasons
are, this means that one resource is already closed to them.  And since
they can be rejected by most landlords legally for having bad credit,
(very few poeple come out of prison with in-tact credit records) why
have yet another strike against them? Chances are, these people have never
in their lives been treated with equal protection under ANY law.

-Anne 
	  

> 
> Instead of being specifically exempt from protection under the Illinois
> Human Rights Act, ex-convicts should be specifically protected from
> discrimination. Clause 3-106(G) was doubtlessly framed by a law-maker who
> wags his finger at "revolving-door justice," but 3-106(G) is precisely the
> kind of law that keeps ex-convicts from being re-integrated into society,
> thus contributing to recidivism and ensuring their continuing contact
> with the criminal justice system. 3-106(G) also helps to make persons
> affected by the criminal justice system into non-citizens before the
> law and other citizens, just like laws that abridge affected persons'
> right to vote and to own firearms.
> 
> Probably there are other "jewels" of backasswardness in the human rights
> act. Just more things to picket Johnson about....
> 
> Dave
> 
> 
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