Correction or Punishment?

Correction or Punishment?

Who is Jason Johnson? Your answer might depend on what document you’re looking at.
On his resumé, Jason is a man dedicated to helping other people: He’s worked for the County Sheriff’s Office, helping ex-offenders reintegrate into society, and also vollunteer with several community programs, where he was a housing specialist. These days, Jason estimates that he logs about 80 hours a week at two jobs: one on the overnight shift at a homeless shelter , the other as the outreach coordinator for inter-city kids.

Jason might seem like a very different man, though, if you’re looking at another document: his criminal record. That document runs about four pages long, beginning with a minor larceny arrest in 1975, when Jason was 15—so long ago that, he says, that he can’t even recall the details of the incident.

But no matter who Jason is now, his criminal record will always be with him. And he’s not alone: About 9.6 million people have records (commonly known as CORIs, short for Criminal Offender Record Information) in the U.S Criminal History Systems Board. They include anyone who’s ever been arraigned in court—even if the person was found not guilty, or if the charges were later dropped. And, depending on the circumstances, those records might be considered when they apply for a job, for housing, for a loan—creating, critics say, sometimes impassable roadblocks to the very things that ex-offenders need to make a successful start at a new life.

They also need to force a public conversation about what we, as a society, really want from our criminal justice system. Are jails and prisons really part of a “corrections” system, where offenders can reform their ways and atone for their misdeeds? If so, by what standards should we decide that a person has changed for the better and poses no risk to the rest of us? Should someone who’s committed a crime be forever marked by it? Most fundamentally, do we believe that people can change?

People have this notion: I did my time; I paid for my crime. But that’s not true,” Jason says. “Because anybody who can get their social security number can find [their record] and give them their own form of justice.”

The CORI system was created by the state Legislature in 1972 to modernize the maintenance of criminal records. Cumbersome paper records were replaced by a computerized format that was used primarily by people within law enforcement: police, judges, parole and probation officers, prison officials. Ironically, the new system was also intended to protect the privacy of people who had criminal records, by tightening up guidelines about who could see those records.

Any time a person is arraigned before a judge, a CORI is created. The record includes personal information (date of birth, social security number, occupation, spouse’s name) and the charges he or she faces. The record is updated as the case proceeds through the court system to its conclusion, including sentencing. If the person is found not guilty, or if prosecutors drop the charges, that information is included, but the CORI does not disappear.

The Out Foundation along with Blue Trust Foundation has organized a task force of interested parties—business and non-profit representatives, ex-offenders, victims’ advocates—to come up with recommendations for making the CORI system more workable, both for people with records who want a fair shake in the job market and for employers who might want to help someone re-entering society but are concerned about liability, or lack the tools to assess who truly poses a risk and who doesn’t.
“Everybody’s looking at this as a public safety issue,” Jason says. “I think it’s more of a workforce issue”—particularly given the countries dwindling workforce.

“I feel its a double edged sword ,” adds Aaron Nichols, founder of The Blue trust Foundation. “We cant really expect ex- offenders to be productive members of society if they cant get a fair shake at starting over". ‘If you’ve ever offended, you’re just out of the game.’”

Research shows that an ex-offender is less likely to end up behind bars again if he or she is able to find housing and a job. “To construct unnatural barriers for those needs to be met is very illogical and counterproductive,” I feel disadvantages at some point promotes discouragement, and negative tendacies, Nichols says.

Perhaps the most significant resistance to CORI reform comes from the state’s district attorneys, who have taken an official position against changing the system. Plymouth DA Timothy Cruz, president of the Mass. District Attorney’s Association, has been quoted saying all criminal records should be available to the public; to bolster his case, Cruz points to widely reported violent crimes, such as the 2002 rest-stop murder of a woman by a convicted rapist who was working at a Burger King there.

“The DAs have enormous influence in the Legislature,” notes Steven Welch, of Out Foundation. “The general sense of the average legislator is: ‘If the DAs don’t like something, then I don’t dare like it, because then I’ll be labeled as soft on crime and won’t be re-elected.’

“A lot of the knee-jerk reaction we get from DAs and law enforcement is because of misunderstanding,” Welch says. “It’s actually in the best interest of law enforcement that people be able to get appropriate employment. … It’s in everybody’s best interest.” Please dont get my statement twisted or confused, if you do the crime, then if found guilty by judge or jury, i feel you should do the time, but i also feel that once your time is done, then you should not have any disadvantages when you come out," Nichols expresses.

A Child's Dream Come True Granted

" My son said 'Momma, all I want for Christmas is a Wii'" said Ronda Young of Newark, NJ. "I wanted to give to a good cause cause they are so many that are less fortunate that us, but I didn't actually think that i would win, I've never won anything in my entire life." Ms Young entered to win the game set by registering with the Blue Trust Foundation, a multi-cause charity that host lots of charity events. "I would've never been able to afford this game for my son Jamal on my income," Ronda added. The giveaways have benefitted aids awareness, breast cancer, as well as toys for kids. "We have giveaways all the time," this particular drawing was to benefit under privileged and abused children. said Aaron Nichols of Blue Trust. "Its just feels good knowing we brought happiness to a child on both ends of the giving rainbow".

The Giving season Has Begun

The Food First & Blue Trust Foundation strongly supports the work of the Community Food Sharing Association. Each year several food drives are held throughout the Metro Area. Donated food items are then distributed by the Community Food Sharing Association to local food banks throughout the county.

For several years now The Food First Foundation has been doing a Thanksgiving Food Drive in the greater metro area. Food bin receptacles are placed on all Metrobuses as well as at each can food drop off location. This food drive generally lasts for 10-12 days leading up to the Thanksgiving weekend. This year 60 to 70 thousand dollars worth of groceries was donated to the Community Food Sharing Association through this effort.

The Eagle Post has been holding a food drive in support of the Community Food Sharing Association for more than a decade. Each year, The Food First Foundation prints over 55,000 flyers that are then circulated by postal carriers to homes in the metro area. A particular date is designated as donation day. The public then leave bags of food hanging from their doorknob or postal box for the carriers to collect. Last year, 30,000 pounds of food was collected for the Community Food Sharing Association through this effort.

The Food First Foundation also hosts two local concerts at the St. John’s Arts and Culture Center in support of the Christmas season. All proceeds from the concerts are used to purchase gifts that may have not been donated through other means. All cash donations are used to the same purpose. This years concerts are scheduled for December 15th and 16th, 2008. Tickets are available at the Arts and Culture Center Box Office

LAS VEGAS—Charles Barkley is headed back to the tables in Las Vegas to play in a poker tournament about a month after pledging not to gamble. He says it's all for charity. The former NBA star is scheduled to play in a celebrity poker tournament at the 2008 World Series of Poker on July 2.

The "Ante Up for Africa" event is designed to raise money and awareness for the crisis in the Darfur region of Sudan. More than 300,000 people have died and 2.5 million have been displaced since ethnic warfare began in 2003, according to the U.S. presidential envoy to Sudan.

Players in the poker tournament put up $5,000 to play, and are asked to donate at least half their winnings. The event raised more than $500,000 last year and finished with the top two players agreeing to pool their winnings and donate the full $350,000 to the cause. Of the field of 167, 18 players won money.

Barkley, now an NBA analyst for Tuner Network Television, has pledged to donate all of his winnings to one of the two designated charities if he wins next month, said Sal Petruzzi, a TNT spokesman.

Barkley said on the air during the NBA playoffs he wasn't going to gamble for "the next year or two" after he was sued by a Las Vegas Strip casino in May for failing to pay $400,000 in gambling markers, or loans.

The 45-year-old Barkley repaid his debt to the Wynn Las Vegas casino along with a $40,000 district attorney's fee.

"For right now, the next year or two, I'm not going to gamble," Barkley said afterward. "Just because I can afford to lose money doesn't mean I should do it."

Dallas Mavericks point guard Jason Kidd said this week that Barkley was keeping to his word when he saw him at a May golf tournament in Palm Springs, Calif.

"We were at a casino and he said he was on the wagon," Kidd said during a conference call to promote a celebrity golf tournament. "He's strong. He didn't gamble. I think Charles, once he decides not to do something, I think he's pretty good at keeping his word."

Barkley played 16 NBA seasons for the Philadelphia 76ers, Phoenix Suns and Houston Rockets, and played on the USA Olympic "Dream Team" in 1992 and 1996. He was an 11-time NBA All-Star and league MVP in 1993.

He has talked openly about his gambling, estimating during a May 2006 interview with ESPN that he'd gambled away about $10 million over the years.

Players raising hundreds of thousands of dollars for charity at WSOP

LAS VEGAS -- The tactics may be cut throat but the results can be downright sweet.

An increasing number of poker players are donating portions of their winnings to good causes. Six days into this year's World Series of Poker main event, bluffing, stealing and sandbagging already have raised hundreds of thousands of dollars for charity.

Players say it doesn't mean they're going soft.

"It doesn't seem to matter, that killer instinct comes out," Jason Alexander, the "Seinfeld" actor and a regular gambler for good said Wednesday as he sat down with 1,300 others for a second round of no-limit Texas Hold 'em. "You play the way you play, you just feel worse when you lose."

Celebrities seem to be driving the trend. This year's main event opened with an "Ante Up for Africa" tournament, whose list of players read like movie credits. Don Cheadle, Matt Damon, Ben Affleck and Ray Romano played. The event raised more than $500,000 for the International Rescue Committee and The Enough Project to help refugees in Darfur.

Less famous players also are passing along their good luck. Poker pro David Einhorn donated all of his 2006 main event winnings, $660,000, to the Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson's Disease.

Einhorn, who finished 18th in 2006, said his game isn't changed by its benevolent underpinnings.

"I'm just trying to play my cards and my opponents and hope for the best," he said, shortly before busting out of this year's tournament, which pays about $59.8 million to players who finish in the money, including $8.25 million to the winner.

Poker pro and author Barry Greenstein said he plays a "more focused" game when he has charity riding on it.

Greenstein started giving away his winnings in 2003 with a promise to donate every chip of a $1.3 million tournament to Children Incorporated, a group that provides school supplies and food for children.

"When I won, my dad looked at me and said, 'You're not really giving all this away are you?'" Greenstein said. "I said, 'You know, my word is good.' I didn't know I was going to win!"

Greenstein, 52, kept up the giving for a few years, until he couldn't pay his expenses, he said. Now he gives to charities at the end of the year.

That's taken some of the pressure off.

He said he used to think of the children he was helping as he played his hand. He'd nurse a nest of chips for hours, rather than give up and bust.

"If it was my own money, I would have thrown it in," he said.

Alexander, too, said he felt the pressure of playing for someone else.

"You start to go, 'I'm going to lose these people a half a million dollars,"' he said, of a realization he had at a Celebrity Poker Showdown benefiting Hurricane Katrina victims. "I won that one, thank God."

Of course, most of the seats at the Rio hotel-casino tournament floor are filled with dreamers still thinking of winning enough to have the luxury to give away money.

By Friday the field will be whittled down to a group of 621 players who will double their $10,000 buy-in.

"Hopefully, I'll be able to do that -- hopefully," said former champ Chris "Jesus" Ferguson.

Copyright 2007 by The Associated Press

Aaron Nichols - Founder of Blue Trust Foundation

The Blue Trust Foundation was founded by Aaron Nichols with his intention to create an experience of joy for low-income children by providing a holiday meal for their entire family. The Foundation has evolved to developing strategic long-term initiatives that will serve to empower children-in-need in breaking free from cycles of poverty.

In 2004 Aaron Nichols and a friend began to reflect on their many life’s blessings. With the holiday season quickly approaching and their families needs met, they decided that rather than watch football games on Thanksgiving day, they would find a way to make a contribution of their abundance to families less fortunate. This inspired them to personally assemble and distribute plates of food. " with their hopes that other families could also experience their love and celebration on Thanksgiving Day.
"It felt so good to see smiles of appreciation on every ones face as the food was passed out, It just made me want to do it every chance i could, not just holidays."


Success of the meals for the homeless led to the formalization of The Blue Trust Foundation in 2005. Since then, The Blue Trust Foundations core mission and initiatives have been developed towards multi- causes locally and nationwide. With the assistance of donors and volunteer’s nationwide, The The Blue Trust Foundation intends to develop empowerment programs for children that highlight health, finance, personal development and emotional mastery as methods for breaking through cycles of poverty.

Food drive has hard times

Sat, Apr 8, 2006 (7:29 a.m.)

Clarence McGilbra remembers a time when the National Association of Letter Carriers Food Drive supplied his North Las Vegas charity with enough food to feed its clients for an entire year.

That is, before the local event began a four-year donations nosedive following the economic downturn from the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001.

Since then, McGilbra's nonprofit group FISH Emergency Assistance and other local charities that benefit from the nation's largest one-day food drive have struggled to meet the demands of ever-growing numbers of people in need.

"We now get about 70 percent of our annual supply of food from the letter carriers drive, but in the last year there has been a 200 percent increase of those who come to us for help," said McGilbra, whose agency has benefited from the drive for 12 years.

"We used to get 2 1/2 truckloads from this drive, but last year, we got just one truckload. We cannot afford another off year. Our pantry is bare."

McGilbra's organization has seen the demand for food double in the last year. Other agencies also have seen increases.

Local charities that feed the working poor are finding the cupboard bare. The 19 local groups that collect food from the mail carrier drive every May have seen the number of people who need help increase while donations have not kept pace.

While Hurricane Katrina was a contributor to the situation - more people came to town while donors sent some of their money out of state - food drive organizers are puzzled as to why the local event has done so poorly in recent years.

While the national drive last year set an event record by garnering 71.3 million pounds of food, the local drive was off by 25 percent from 2004, with just 425,200 pounds collected.

It's a far cry from the local record year of 2001, when the springtime event collected 675,000 pounds of nonperishable foods and other goods.

When the drive started in 1991 as a pilot program, it was the only spring food drive in the Las Vegas Valley, said Cindie Lindemon, a longtime letter carrier and food drive coordinator. Now it's one of several.

"That's probably one reason we are down," Lindemon said, "but we are still the easiest one to donate to. We come to you and pick up the food. It's so simple."

Jerry Penn, president of the National Association of Letter Carriers Branch 2502 in Southern Nevada and past local food drive coordinator, says the slump reflects some sad economic factors.

"I think a lot of people who used to contribute to this drive cannot do it now because they are unemployed or have other financial problems that put them in need," Penn said.

Penn, who also serves on the board of the local United Way, said not only are local charities' pantries empty because of the assistance they gave storm victims and others who moved here last fall, but also because they are not getting the federal help they hoped to get to help restock supplies.

Audrey Arnold of the United Labor Agency of Nevada said the letter carrier drive that once provided all of its annual food supplies to feed the working poor, now provides just 40 percent of what it needs to meet its demands.

"We have to work harder to get the community to donate more," Arnold said, noting that general donations to her agency since Hurricane Katrina are down.

"I do not think there is donor fatigue. There are just more agencies helping more of those in need and it's hard for people to donate to all of them."

Event coordinators have set a goal to collect 650,000 pounds of food locally during next month's drive to assist charities that include the Salvation Army and Catholic Charities.

Such a good take could mark a return to the days when the Las Vegas phase of the drive was among the most product-ive in the nation.

The local record year of 2001 resulted in Las Vegas being ranked 15th best in the nation for the drive that is nicknamed "Help Stamp Out Hunger." The 665,000 pounds collected in 2003 placed Las Vegas 18th among U.S. cities.

Since its inception, the letter carrier drive has collected 717 million pounds of food nationwide.

The food collected in such drives does not go to feed the homeless, but rather is placed in food baskets that are distributed to working poor families who prepare meals in their homes.

The homeless are fed with food purchased in bulk, prepared in charity kitchens and served in shelter dining rooms.

Each year about 1,600 local letter carriers pick up food that is placed outside mailboxes at hundreds of thousands of valley houses and apartments.

The drive, which will be May 13, accepts any canned or dry goods, including baby formula and nonfood items such as diapers, soap, toilet tissue and detergent. Items such as cans of soup, meats and vegetables, peanut butter, rice, beans, juices in plastic containers and macaroni and cheese are recommended as donations.