Barbara Flynn Currie.

8 September 2009

News from Springfield..................by State Rep. Barbara Flynn Currie (D-25)

If you’ve been convicted of a felony, it’s tough to find work in Illinois even after you’ve paid your debt to society. Many occupations are off limits. And what’s the effect? People who can’t find jobs after they leave prison are much more likely to find themselves in trouble with the law a second time. It also seems unfair. If you’ve met the terms of your sentence, shouldn’t you have a chance at a clean slate?

I worked with Michael Sweig of the Safer Foundation and state Senator Kwame Raoul to provide some relief. Our measure does three things.

First, it expands the number of crimes for which a felon can get a Certificate of Relief from Disabilities, which would help the individual earn a particular occupational license, or a Certificate of Good Conduct, which would help lift barriers to employment more generally. While Class X offenses, aggravated drunk driving and aggravated domestic battery and a third felony conviction would continue to be ineligible, relief would become available for felonies that didn’t result in “great bodily harm or permanent disability.”

Second, it transfers responsibility from the state’s Prisoner Review Board to the Circuit Court that found the individual guilty in the first place. The standard the Court would use in making the determination would be the highest civil standard: clear and convincing evidence. In Court, the State’s Attorney can challenge the person with a criminal record if there is credible evidence that the person is a risk to public safety. The Certificate issued by the Court becomes a binding document, not, as it was under prior law, essentially just a letter of recommendation. Employers who rely upon a Certificate would be protected against lawsuits brought by third parties. This is important because today employers are often reluctant to hire people with criminal records, even if they’ve been granted a Certificate. As well, the Court could opt to limit the application of the Certificate. If someone’s been convicted of mortgage fraud, for example, the court might find the individual rehabilitated but nevertheless leave the decision whether to give that person a mortgage broker’s license to the appropriate occupational licensing authority.

Third, the state’s department that regulates licensing will offer free advisory opinions so people have a good idea whether a specific criminal behavior would likely bar licensure in a particular field. It doesn’t make sense to require someone to jump through all the employment hoops—the cost and the time it takes to go through training and testing—just to discover at the end of the day that the licensing department was going to use its discretion to deny the license anyway because of the criminal conviction.

The Safer Foundation, Sen. Raoul and I had a lot of help from several colleagues in clarifying the concepts behind the bill. Special thanks go to two former prosecutors who now serve with me in the House, state Reps. Chapin Rose (R-Mahomet) and Dennis Reboletti (R-Elmhurst). The Governor has offered some technical amendments to the bill. We hope the legislature will approve his changes in the October veto session. And we all hope that this measure, on becoming law, will result in many fresh starts and many fewer returns to the state correctional system.

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