
The prisoners fighting wildfires in California - darrhiggs
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-34285658
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Shivetya
One of the hardest part with integrating former prisoners back into regular
life is not only the lack of jobs but the restrictions on jobs they can take.
Far too many states are regulated to the point the even trades many consider
simple exclude felons. Even fire fighting in many states is not possible with
convictions.

So besides giving them an opportunity to serve while incarcerated we need to
make sure that incarceration does not keep them from rejoining society upon
release simply because government rules tell them no.

~~~
humanrebar
> Even fire fighting in many states is not possible with convictions.

There seems to be a reasonable case for thorough background checks for
firefighters. You might be able to persuade me that "any felony conviction" is
too broad and only certain kinds of felonies should be excluded.

~~~
TeMPOraL
You could always find a reasonable case to screen felons, but the first step
to reintegrating people into the society is trusting them. It does involve
risk.

~~~
Lawtonfogle
Unless there is a shortage of equally skilled workers, why would a business
trust a felon when they could hire a non-felon?

~~~
bsder
Because a felony is damn easy to get and almost impossible to get rid of.

Pissed on a wall or mooned somebody when drunk in front of a cop? Felony _AND_
sex offender--just for good measure.

Had sex with your 17-year-old girlfriend when you were 18? Felony although
some jurisdictions make exceptions and try to reduce this to misdemeanor
depending upon age difference.

Picked up for drunk and disorderly and had a knife on you that exceeds
specifications? Felony. Side note: there is a reason so many people like
MagLite flashlights--they are similar in size to a billy club or truncheon but
are legal.

Picked up with a small amount of marijuana while your friend was in possession
of a much larger amount in the car. Felony.

Every single male I know has done _something_ sufficiently stupid when he was
young that could have been a felony.

In addition, if a cop picks you up, they can probably find a felony somewhere
in the law that will stick unless you are a teetotaller.

The real problem is that non-violent felonies need to go away after a while. I
seem to remember some research showing that if a felon manages to stay out of
trouble for 5 years he is _less_ likely to get in trouble than even the
general population.

So, to answer your question, felons who stay out of trouble for more than 5
years are actually a _better_ pool to hire from than the general population.

------
rw2
There is no better way to reform a man than to give him a purpose.
Firefighting and other volunteer services are definitely a good way to go.

~~~
ashark
Reminds me of Sikes fighting the fire in Oliver Twist:

[http://www.online-literature.com/dickens/olivertwist/49/](http://www.online-
literature.com/dickens/olivertwist/49/)

(search on page "And here he remained" for the start)

(spoiler alert?)

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ck2
We still have slave labor in the USA, just throw people in prison and strongly
suggest to them their lives will suck less if they work for 30 cents per hour.
If they want to go outside, they can get $1 an hour but they risk death.

~~~
nicklaf
It's voluntary. So long as prison conditions are humane enough to make
remaining in jail a viable option, this can help prisoners.

The real danger would be the possibility that this is incentivizing the
government to increase the prison population in order to reap the fruits of
greater prison labor.

Of course, that's all to say nothing about the national disgrace that 5% of
the world's population has 25% of the world's prisoners.

~~~
justizin
> It's voluntary. So long as prison conditions are humane enough to make
> remaining in jail a viable option, this can help prisoners.

California prisons are horrifically overcrowded, literally they are under
court order to reduce it, so your qualifier fails.

~~~
nicklaf
I will certainly accept that the qualifier fails; I am well aware of that our
prisons have serious problems.

------
serge2k
I have to wonder, based on the restrictions on who they accept, how many of
these people would have been better off just getting a job like this instead
of going to prison?

