1. What would the Fair Chance bill you sponsored – which would create more opportunity for convicted felons to find employment on their release – resolve?
Our old licensing laws were a life sentence preventing people with records from getting occupational licenses. We can’t claim our corrections system is “rehabilitation,” then deny someone the right to ever work in many fields because of past mistakes. Correcting this will allow those who paid their debt to society to make a decent living, lift their families out of poverty and save taxpayers money.
2. You said the law needs to have more nuance and be less punitive regarding criminal justice and people who have served their time. Can you elaborate?
Making one bad choice as an 18-year-old shouldn’t mean you can never be an electrician or a hairdresser, no matter how you may turn your life around. Now, it won’t. Now, only convictions for offenses related to the occupation can be considered, and the licensing agency can weigh factors … [such as] rehabilitation and the time that’s passed.
3. Do you think the views of Rhode Islanders are changing relating to racial equity? For example, the movement this year to remove “Plantations” from the state name.
Over time, people have become more sensitive about their fellow citizens whose families have suffered from the atrocities of slavery and the ill effects that followed – generational poverty and discrimination that persist to this day. This moment is very different than a decade ago. I’ve received so much positive feedback this time.
4. What legislation needs to pass in the current session?
Sen. Roger Picard’s constitutional amendment establishing equity and every child’s right to an adequate education is the top civil rights issue of our time. A family’s ZIP code should not determine the quality of education a child receives.
5. You are the sponsor of a bill that would make it illegal for landlords to discriminate based on the source of someone’s income. Is opposition from landlords changing due to the current health crisis?
Time will tell. Some may use the financial strains of the crisis as an excuse to continue discrimination against tenants whose income comes from Section 8 or Social Security; others may figure out that in financially unstable times, those renters actually have a guaranteed income. Either way, the crisis has exacerbated needs throughout the community.
Mary MacDonald is a PBN staff writer. Contact her at Macdonald@PBN.com.
