What is the Purpose of the Felony Conviction?

I often asked myself this question, “What is the purpose of a felony conviction?” I believe that if you asked this question to any random citizen, the responses would be similar. The common theme would be public safety. And that could not be farther from the truth.

What is a felony? Felony: n. 1) a crime sufficiently serious to be punishable by death or a term in state or federal prison, as distinguished from a misdemeanor which is only punishable by confinement to county or local jail and/or a fine. 2) a crime carrying a minimum term of one year or more in state prison, since a year or less can be served in county jail. However, a sentence upon conviction for a felony may sometimes be less than one year at the discretion of the judge and within limits set by statute.

That definition is very straight forward. A felony is a serious crime. It should carry with its commission a remedy that benefits the common good. Depending on the nature of the case and at the discretion of the judge, the sentence should allow for the public to become safer through the referral of the individual to the Department of Correction (DOC). It is the job of the DOC to take the necessary steps to correct the behavior of the individual that led to the commission of the felony offense.

The community should have warranted faith that the DOC will do it due diligence to ensure that the public is safer because of the care and treatment of the individual that it, the DOC, was charged with serving. And, I believe, the community has faith that this is occurring. Is that faith reasonable?

The felony conviction should be seen as a signal that behavior modification is needed. The conviction, then, serves as a tool that allows the government to impose mandatory corrective actions, through several means, including imprisonment. And, if that were the end of the story, there would be no need for me to continue writing. Yet, I am still writing.

As a person that has a felony conviction, my personal experiences have led me to the assertion that public safety is not the primary reason for labeling someone as a convicted felon. During my time in contact with the criminal justice system, there was no time when my behavior was being intentionally modified. I was only imprisoned. The argument can be made that the imprisonment did make the community safer, but my sentence had an expiration date. Using that rationale, the community’s safety was compromised upon my release from prison.

I submit to you that the primary reason for imposing a felony conviction on an individual is to label them in order to remove rights- rights that this great nation was founded on. The felony conviction serves a modern day scarlet letter, a tool used to identify and to categorize men and women in order to subject them to a system of collateral consequences that have nothing to do with public safety.

Let’s consider the 13th Amendment to the United States Constitution. It reads: “Section 1.

Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, except as a punishment for crime whereof the party shall have been duly convicted, shall exist within the United States, or any place subject to their jurisdiction.”

The 13th Amendment has been referred to as the amendment that ended slavery. If you read it, you will see that that is not completely true. This amendment allows for slavery or involuntary servitude as punishment for a crime, i.e. felony conviction. The felony conviction gives jurisdictions the power to create a new class of slaves that are used as cheap labor.

Secondly, the felony conviction subjects individuals to a myriad of collateral consequences that, in no way, make our communities safer. For example, a felony conviction, in many jurisdictions, strips citizens of several rights such as voting, housing, education and employment, the same rights that were fought for by African Americans during the American Civil Rights movement. These collateral consequences drastically reduce a citizen’s ability to productively contribute to society, and they are often left to resort to crime in an effort to survive, thus placing them right back in the criminal justice system.

Furthermore, the federal government has revised its EEOC (Equal Employment Opportunity Commission) guidelines for hiring in an effort to remove blanket policies of discrimination against people with felony convictions. This is important because these policies have a disparate impact- a theory of liability that prohibits an employer from using a facially neutral employment practice that has an unjustified adverse impact on members of a protected class- on minorities. This evidence lends itself to the notion that felony convictions are being used to discriminate against minorities by keeping them out of the workforce and in a state of dependency on the government or criminal activity. Michelle Alexander refers to it as “The New Jim Crow”.

The felony conviction has become a tool that is widely used to create a class of people that is denied basic freedoms that our United States Constitution guaranteed all citizens. The felony conviction has become a weapon of mass destruction that is destroying communities of color by destroying family stability by saddling men and women with a plethora of collateral consequences that make living the American Dream, or striving for some semblance of it, virtually impossible. The conviction has created a population of hopeless individuals that see no need to attempt to contribute to society in a positive manner.

I, in no way, condone crime. I believe that crime should have a legal obligation that the person that commits it should satisfy. With that being said, it is completely unfair and morally wrong to continue this system of oppression that does not serve the general welfare of our great nation! The preamble of the Constitution clearly states that the mission of America is to allow all citizens the ability to “…form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defence, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity…” A person that is convicted of a felony serves a life sentence that will not allow to them to share in this great mission. Let’s restructure our criminal justice system and create a system of justice rather than a weapon, wielded too freely, of oppression.

We Are Coming Out of the Shadows, We Are Asking For Your Help

For far too long, persons that have felony convictions have been too afraid or too ashamed to make themselves known and compel society to treat them with the dignity and fairness that is due to all citizens. The time has come for that to end. Men and women that have made documented bad decisions, but who have made the decision to redirect the courses of their lives should have a path that leads to a successful life. The current state of our nation does not allow for that. Rules, regulations, stipulations and revocation of rights has made a felony conviction a life sentence. I pray that we do not allow this opportunity to improve upon on justice system to pass us by. Below is an open letter that I read to the Shelby County board of commissioners in Memphis, TN.

January 12, 2015

To Whom it May Concern:

I’m standing on behalf of those that have made documented bad decisions, but who have made the conscience decision to redirect their energies and to become positive, productive citizens that add to the common good. We are coming out of the shadows, and we are asking for your help.

For far too long, we have been seen as a population that is undeserving of the opportunity to contribute to society in a positive manner. Many feel that we don’t have the capacity to transform our behavior and add value to the community. Some would be comfortable with the status quo, “lock ‘em up and throw away the key”. Others think that simply locking people up will, somehow, make the community safer and rid it of its scum. The problem is those stances have been proven ineffective and dramatically too expensive. We are coming out of the shadows, and we are asking for your help.

Let’s take a glimpse at the current state of affairs. As a resident of Memphis, TN, located in Shelby County, I will only speak to that which I have firsthand knowledge. An inmate is granted the privilege of serving on a “work line” (a trustee position that allows an inmate the ability to work outside of the confinements of the prison walls). He is allowed to perform tasks such as electrician assistant, or painter, or lawn maintenance crew member. Some are even allowed to operate heavy equipment (i.e. tractors). The work experience is priceless. The tragedy is that those same individuals are not afforded true opportunities to continue that work for Shelby County as free men. We are coming out of the shadows, and we are asking for your help.

Work release programs offer an inmate the ability to develop skills and work ethic. Although the inmate is still incarcerated, he is allowed to leave the prison to go to work at a local business. The business has a relationship with the prison and has agreed to accept candidates as employees. This lucky man is now able to support his family and pay for a portion of his cost of incarceration. He is developing a sense of worth for himself. He is beginning to see himself as a new man and the world is filled with opportunities. But, upon his release, he is terminated. He is now being penalized for completing his sentence. We are coming out of the shadows, and we are asking for your help.

Shelby County, in its efforts to assist our population, created an Office of Reentry. This is a quote taken from the website of the Office of Reentry: “The Office of Re-entry serves as a “one-stop” interactive resource center for ex-offenders to navigate in a healthy environment. The Division of Corrections program addresses needs of the incarcerated citizen as they prepare for release; The City of Memphis Second Chance Program has been restructured and it will continue to focus on reducing recidivism through training, job readiness, and job development in an effort to create opportunities for employment. The Tennessee Board of Probations and Parole provides the supervision required by the State of Tennessee.” I sincerely applaud this effort, but it falls short in that the office offers no direct services and no employment opportunities. While it is true, this population has its challenges, we are not unable to navigate society. We are coming out of the shadows, and we are asking for your help.

I am a proud American. I am a citizen of this great nation. The time has come that the rights and privileges provided in the founding documents of our great nation are enjoyed by ALL of its citizens. “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed, by their Creator, with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness.” In the words of my hero, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr, “All we say to America, is be true to what you said on paper”. Over time, the paper has changed because of the will of the people with regard for the current state of affairs. The beauty of our system is that this ability still exists. I pray that we don’t allow this opportunity to improve on our justice system to pass us by. We are coming out of the shadows, and we are asking for your help.

I am blessed to be the founder and Executive Director of LifeLine to Success. LifeLine to Success is an ex-offender reentry program that equips men and women that have felony convictions with the tools necessary to successfully reenter society by becoming positive, productive citizens. Over the past 5 years, we have seen many lives transformed. Our organization is one of the leaders in the blight efforts in our city. We have been awarded contracts with the City of Memphis, The Achievement School District, Frayser Community Schools and the Delta Fair. We are, also, very civic minded and consider volunteering a pillar of our organization. To illustrate that point, LifeLine to Success was named Large Group Volunteer of the Year by Volunteer Mid-South in 2012, Volunteer Community Group by the Mid-South Food Bank in 2013 and received the Community Service by the Frayser Exchange Club in 2013. We are coming out of the shadows, and we are asking for your help.

Finally, LifeLine to Success provides no competition to other agencies that service our population. Our target audience includes individuals that don’t necessarily qualify for other programs. The majority of our members do not possess a high school diploma. Many of them have undiagnosed mental conditions. They have been victims of chronic abuse and trauma. They don’t read on the level necessary to qualify for other programs. They have multiple offenses, some of which are violent. Yet, they want to live a life that is not filled with crime. We make crime unattractive and remove it as an option. Our members get it! They deserve a chance. We are coming out of the shadows, and we are asking for your help.

As a convicted felon, I understand the plight of our population. The frustrations, hurts, pains, feelings of worthlessness- those are real to me! The knowledge that no matter how hard I work, I will always be labeled and looked at with doubt and suspicion. The weight of that realization is sometimes unbearable. Yet, I press on. My biography is permanently marked. But my future has yet to be written. That provides me with hope. Change like this comes when men and women of conscience are made aware of injustice and they act. We cannot do this alone. I’ll close with another quote from Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr, “Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere. We are caught in an inescapable network of mutuality, tied in a single garment of destiny. Whatever affects one directly, affects all indirectly.” We are coming out of the shadows, and we are asking for your help.

Sincerely,

Pastor DeAndre D. Brown