Action Alert

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Public Safety Provisions in Senate Budget
Conference Committee Action Needed!

This legislative session we can make communities safer, put more people to work, save taxpayer dollars and increase access to rehabilitative programming!

We need your leadership.

Did You Know . . .

• the Criminal Offender Record Information (CORI) system is stopping people, including those who were found "not guilty," from getting jobs and paying taxes?
• over 80% of Massachusetts inmates have a history of substance abuse?
• current law denies 84% of inmates participation in rehabilitative programs?
• individuals in rehabilitative and re-entry programs are 15%-40% less likely to re-offend based on their criminal history and addiction severity, than those not offered services?

Please put the taxpayer dollars allocated to the Criminal History Systems Board in the House and Senate Budgets to good use by simultaneously updating the CORI system & allowing more participation in pre-release programming

Please contact Speaker DiMasi and the members of the Conference Committee & ask them to support CORI Reform and access to treatment for those serving mandatory minimum drug sentences as incorporated in the Senate budget through Amendment 688 and Amendment 705 in order to:

· Increase public safety · Decrease recidivism · Increase access to pre-release programming

What’s in the Senate Budget and how does it help?
[Section Numbers follow each provision]

Amendment 688 reduces barriers to employment and housing for people who have a favorably ending case (e.g. not guilty), and/or rehabilitated people with criminal records by:

• Implementing quasi-automatic sealing of favorably ending cases (e.g., not guilty) [44G, 44H]

• Allowing juvenile records to be purged if a court deems the case appropriate for purging [44F, 44H]

• Requiring that only convictions and open cases be reported to non-law enforcement entities unless otherwise authorized by statute (e.g. statutes that protect vulnerable populations) [38G]

• Prohibiting employers from discriminating against CORI subjects solely based on a CORI unless it is related to the position sought or the vulnerable population statute applies [38G]

• Creating a certificate of commitment to rehabilitation to encourage treatment and subsequent employment [3D, 3E]

Amendment 705 allows more people to access programming behind bars, saves taxpayer dollars, reduces recidivism and makes communities safer by:

• Allowing those serving mandatory minimum drug sentences to be eligible for parole and enter addiction treatment, job readiness programs and other rehabilitative services after serving two-thirds of their sentences. [27 G]

Contact:

Brandyn Keating at 508-982-2247 or [email protected],
Horace Small at 617-541-4111 or [email protected]