Justice For All

by Freddie
(Royston,Georgia)

In 2001 i was charged with giving someone a (1) loritab pain pill for alleged back pain. The official charge was Distributing class iii drug. I didn't sell, trade or other wise deal the one loritab.

A search warrant of my property revealed a small amount of pot that i used for recreation purposes. I admitted the pot was mine and that i gave someone the loritab i had a paid lawyer and received a sentence of 910 days which is about 2 and 1/2 yrs for a charge that carries only probation in 99% of cases i was stunned and dismayed.

I was also given 10 yrs of probation and fines that totaled nearly 2,000 dollars. I later found out that the person i gave the loritab to grandfather was the ex police chief and owned a large business. I know it was totally a political favor that the judge and the D.A done for him. I went to trucking school when i was released in 2006 but no company would hire me cause the felony had to be at least 10yrs or older.I was able to find some work with a truck wash company that i was there for over 4 yrs then laid off.

My CDL were valid but i had to get retrained so i went back to the same school that i was at in 2006. I just went to swift transport for orientation for a driving otr job and was denied cause my felony had to be at least 10 yrs old.

I'm still seeking employment as i write this. We need to contact Washington D.C our government in changing applications that hinder ex-felons from providing for themselves and their families. we are hard working caring people who made mistakes and have changed our lives we don't want welfare or assistance we just want the same opportunities to work and have the American dream like everyone else.

God Help Us All

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Oct 06, 2010
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Must Make A Stand
by: Anonymous

I have had a lot of sleepless nights about this sensitive issue also.I am a felon of nearly 10 yrs ago as well a non violent charge the should have been only probation.Any rate i think that all serious violent and sex offenders should have to check the felony box for the seriousness of their crime.I am srtuggling to find gainful employment or any for that matter.Under the U.S Equal Employment opportunity Commission It states that a person cannot be denied empolyment based soley on a conviction of a crime.I think that the more people who file equal employment for all through the eeoc against companies that refuse to hire ex- felons is the only voice we have.This issue must be heard on the local, state, and federal level in order to get anything done so we can work and provide for ourselves and our families equally as everyone else

Oct 05, 2010
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Stipulations
by: Chris Hill

I understand where some employers are coming from but in the same aspect, I also disagree with them. I do have felony convictions and I am always honest on my applications. But no matter what, it seems like as soon as the employer sees that you checked yes to a felony conviction, they automatically chuck your app. They say that they look into the circumstances but I have no proof of that after talking to several companies. When I call and ask why my app was denied they say it is because of my felony convictions. I then ask if they even looked into the circumstances and they have flat out told me no. That they wont look into it until the conviction date is at least so many years old. I don't believe that they WANT to give anyone a fair chance.

Oct 01, 2010
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Amen to that
by: Jeff

God bless you Dennis Shipman!! That's what I been saying for a while now. Thank you guys for this site. I look at it pretty much every day. I read through all of the comments. I feel so bad for some of these people that are just like me. We did something stupid at age 18 age 17 what not. At age 30 we are still paying this price after we have paid the financial price in court we are still paying for it with not having any luck from getting any good jobs just because of this mark that is on our records.

Sep 29, 2010
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FCRA
by: Anonymous

I agree with Dennis, this is bs. Between this and the Patriot Act too many Americans CITIZENS are being made unemployable. There are things that were not felony offenses until the last few years. How do you do a background, credit check and 3 year work history on a non citizen???

Sep 29, 2010
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agreed on stipulations...
by: Anonymous

While I understand your frustrations I do not believe that the law should be completely removed. There are some jobs that should be required to have that information. For instance you wouldn't want a sex offender that raped and molested a child to be driving a school bus or be able to obtain any job where they would be around children. If employers aren't given that information and the person doesn't admit it then how are we to know. While I believe that petty lower classed felonies should not be subject to this law, I do not in good conscience believe it should be entirely removed.

Sep 29, 2010
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Justice For All
by: Dennis Shipman

You can thank ex-President Clinton for that... Under his administration, the Fair Credit Reporting Act was amended to report criminal convctions indefinitely. It is a stupid, punitive policy, which serves no productive purpose except to hinder persons with criminal records from ever obtaining gainful employment. I say lets do it. Let's start a grassroots campaign to change FCRA back to 7 years, and federal law to stop reporting criminal convictions over 10 years.

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