Pubdate: Sun, 23 May 2004
Source: Oklahoman, The (OK)
Copyright: 2004 The Oklahoma Publishing Co.
Contact:  http://www.oklahoman.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/318
Author: Ronald Fraser

DOING TIME - AND THEN SOME

A felony conviction in Oklahoma triggers not one but two kinds of 
punishment -- one visible, the other hidden. First, a conviction often 
means a prison term. But once that debt is paid, and just as the former 
inmate begins piecing together a shattered life, barriers to finding a 
place to live and getting a job kick in. Telling felons they are free to 
rejoin civil life but then placing obstacles in their way is bad public 
policy. For most inmates, prison means more than the loss of physical 
freedom. Families are split up. Children lose a mother or father. Absent 
wage earners and financial troubles go hand in hand. All of this breaks 
down a person's place in his or her community.

Nevertheless, between 1986 and 1996, state-imposed post-prison punishments 
surged. States permanently barring felons from voting increased from 11 to 
14; states permitting termination of parental rights went from 16 to 19; 
and states requiring felons to register with the local police shot up from 
eight to 46. By 1996, a felony conviction was legal grounds for a divorce 
in 29 states.

A new Legal Action Center study shows how prison restrictions continue to 
make a felon's re-entry in Oklahoma rockier than it ought to be:

Jobs. Finding a job after jail is a challenge. Some states, including 
Oklahoma, make matters worse by remaining silent on how employers can 
handle an applicant's record. In Oklahoma, a felony record -- on its own -- 
may be used to deny employment in public agencies and private businesses.

Public housing. A felon can be denied public housing. The Public Housing 
Authority in Oklahoma City, for example, may bar a felon for five years and 
persons convicted of a misdemeanor for three years.

Public assistance. To its credit, Oklahoma has rejected the strict federal 
drug felon ban. A drug-related felon is eligible to use Temporary 
Assistance for Needy Families and food stamps.

Society must set rules and dish out just and constructive punishments. But 
should state governments be in the business of promoting unemployment, 
divorce and single-parent families? Once the prison time is done, the state 
should help ex-convicts rebuild their lives.

Jeremy Travis of the Urban Institute in Washington says that we could 
better judge the merits of these back-door punishments if states gave them 
greater public exposure and debate. Unlike the operation of prisons, 
according to Travis, civil punishments don't run up large administrative 
costs and taxes. The result? These hidden punishments seldom get the public 
airing they deserve.

If Oklahoma's re-entry barriers lead to a felon's failure to put together a 
new life, the individual incurs a huge personal cost. But when that 
person's troubles mount, the prospects for more crime mount. And if he or 
she is sent back to jail for a technical parole infraction, as often 
happens, or for a new crime resulting from a failed return to society, who 
picks up the $44.62 a day room and board tab? Oklahoma taxpayers, of course.

In the end, these hidden punishments also have real hidden costs.

Fraser writes on public policy issues for the DKT Liberty Project, a 
Washington-based civil liberties organization.
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom