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Brown University Providence, rban tudies Rhode Island Newsletter Spring 2019 UEdited and designed by Colin Kent-Daggett S “Rehabiliation, reentry, and restoration” SNEAK PEAK From Maxcy Hall to Brown’s campus to the City of Providence, the Urban Studies newsletter has it all: The Mystery of Half-Staff INSIDE THE logistics and symbol- SOURCE: Wikimedia Commons ism of everyday semaphore. A New Hope in Washington State » continued, PG. 4 By Sydney Anderson A nationwide and bipartisan push the convictions of people who would single day. This doesn’t even account towards criminal justice reform, have had to check the box. for those no longer on probation who generally focused on assisting past The brainchild of Representative still deal with the daily impacts of offenders in reintegrating, has been Drew Hansen (D) and Seattle Police having a criminal record. While gaining ground in recent years. Officer and Representative Morgan Black people make up 4 percent of Between 2017 and 2019, 20 states Irwin (R), the bill was originally Washington’s total population, they expanded or added laws to make it proposed in the 2017-18 legislature, are vastly overrepresented in the easier for people to move on from but faced misconceptions and was prison and jail population – at 18 per- their criminal records, usually mis- proposed too late in the session to cent of the prison population. Like- demeanors. go anywhere. It was put back on the wise, whites are underrepresented, In Washington state, a law called table for the 2019-2020 legislature as and make up 73 percent of the total Human Rights The New Hope Act has been quietly House Bill 1041. population, and only 60 percent of making its way through congress. HB 1041 is being hailed as one way the incarcerated population. and the City The bipartisan sponsored New Hope to reduce the far-reaching impacts The “brief description” of House Act will reduce requirements for of racist policies and practices that Bill 1041 says that the bill is “promot- AN URBAN Studies concentrator obtaining a criminal conviction vaca- have long oppressed communities of ing successful reentry by modifying attends a conference at Northwestern. tion for those convicted of both mis- color, and especially work to undo the process or obtaining certificates demeanors and felonies. The bill is the restrictive and violent impacts of of discharge and vacating conviction » continued, PG. 5 highly necessary in a country where the war on drugs and three strikes records.” The bill essentially has two the unemployment rate of those for- laws. Laws such as these are partially parts – it eases the requirements for merly incarcerated is almost seven to blame for the disproportionately obtaining a certificate of discharge times the national average, and in a high rates at which African Ameri- for those who have completed sen- state where between 8 and 10 percent cans, Latinos, and Native Americans tencing conditions for felony convic- of those exiting prison are released are incarcerated in comparison to tions, and subsequently allows these directly into homelessness. Instead of their white counterparts. folks to apply to have their felony the common refrain in criminal jus- In Washington, around 37,000 conviction vacated, which means the tice reform efforts imploring compa- people are incarcerated on any given nies to “ban the box,” this law vacates day, and another 88,000 are on pro- bation, meaning around 125,000 are directly involved with and restricted by the criminal justice system every » HOPE continued, PG. 2 CONTENTS Rhode Island HOPE ACT .......................................... 1 STUDY ABROAD ............................... 5 LETTER FROM EDITOR .................. 2 PAWSOX ............................................. 6 Mourns PawSox BRAIN DRAIN ................................... 3 LITTLE ROADY ................................. 6 THE AAA baseball team is headed BUS TOUR .......................................... 3 CONTINUED ..................................... 7 HOPE HAC .......................................... 4 ETCETERA ........................................ 8 to Wocester after this season. HALF-STAFF ...................................... 4 CROSSWORD .................................... 8 JONES’19 ............................................ 5 » continued, PG. 6 BAMUWAMYE’19 ............................. 5 2 URBN NEWS May 2019 May 2019 URBN NEWS 3 FEATURES FEATURES tioning are no longer tied to date of Hope Cont. COD and rather are tied to sentencing date, release of confinement, or from Washington New Hope Act RI Weighs Options Amid ‘Brain Drain’ offense no longer appears on their community custody (whichever came By Harry August — Originally published in the College Hill Independent on 2/8/2019 criminal record. latest), decreasing the wait period. - Streamlines the process for getting a Certificate Currently, when a convicted person The New Hope Act also eases the Rhode Island is worried about its increase, while other New England are not from here and never intended lennial RI is entering its fifth year of has met all legal financial obliga- process of having misdemeanors of Discharge, which restores all civil rights size, and for good reason. Absent a states, Vermont and Connecticut, to stay here,” Arthur told the Indy. recruiting and representing the inter- tions (LFOs), the sentencing court is vacated and allows an unlimited mass migration to the Ocean State were two of the four states with So, while the idea of fleeing grads ests of the oft-mocked generation. required to provide them with a cer- number of misdemeanor convic- - Aligns the rules of misdemeanors and felonies before the 2020 census, Rhode Island slower growth than Rhode Island. has perhaps been over-hyped, the Now, Millennial RI has over 200 tificate of discharge (COD), restoring tions to be vacated, as opposed to will lose one of its two seats in the This is in part due to a nation-wide need for attracting a young and edu- dues-paying members (out of the all civil rights, except the right to vote the current limit of one. HB 1041 – currently an unlimited number of felonies can US House of Representatives, plac- trend of fast population growth in the cated workforce to Rhode Island to 30,000 or so millennials in the state), (which is restored immediately upon expands eligibility and allows those ing it in the company of the Dakotas, Southwest of the US, but many also combat the consequences of an aging Escobar told the Indy, that can attend release). Meeting LFOs with a felony with a Failure to Register conviction be vacated, but past offenders can only have one Alaska, Wyoming and three other blame the so-called “brain drain”: and stagnant population remains. As the groups events (like “Adulting 101: conviction can be nearly impossible, to have their conviction vacated and states with one lone statewide repre- college students fleeing to other states Arthur’s report makes clear, beyond Uncovering the Cover Letter”) and get where the average person convicted allows anyone to apply as long as it misdemeanor vacated sentative. (It didn’t help that former after they graduate. just losing half our congressional discounts at places like Seven Stars in Washington Superior Court owes has been three years since any new Governor Lincoln Chafee announced Travis Escobar, a Rhode Island representation, Rhode Island’s abil- Bakery (but only on Mondays.) And $2,540 per case, and LFOs accrue misdemeanor convictions. - Makes offenses like robbery and assault his plans to move to Wyoming last native who works on policy for United ity to recruit educated workers puts on March 28, the organization will be interest while a person is imprisoned, Bills like this one often require week, even if he was just dodging Way RI and was recently appointed to the state’s prosperity at stake. For hosting its fifth-annual “#ChooseRI and the ability to get a job and stable the cooperation of the entire crimi- eligible for vacation estate taxes.) the Providence School Board, helped this reason, both the Governor’s free Celebration,” the group’s “largest net- housing is severely restricted with nal justice system to be effective in This means that state lawmakers, found an organization—“Millennial community college initiative and working event of the year.” any sort of criminal conviction. A their implementation. Similar laws - Expedites the vacation process and opens up an worried not only about federal rep- RI”— to tackle this drain. “Our groups like Millennial RI are trying, The Millennial RI website walks a failure to pay these court costs can in Indiana and California have only resentation but a stagnant tax base, population is old,” Escobar told in their own distinct ways, to plug the fine line between parody and sincer- even land someone back in prison. found success as a result of support- increased number of felonies to be vacated are desperate to convince current the Indy, “We are constantly losing proverbial drain. ity, with a series of drone shots of House Bill 1041 modifies the con- ive prosecutors and the hard work of residents to stay and new ones to young people.” Escobar is backed up Escobar, now the president of Mil- the statehouse and the Gano Street ditions for obtaining a COD. The on the ground community organiza- move in. State Representative Carlos by numerous sources, from Provi- lennial RI’s board, stays true to his bridge on its homepage and five dif- modified requirements only stipulate tions to get the word out and provide Tobon of Pawtucket made headlines dence Monthly to the Providence generation’s archetype: he’s worried ferent appearances of the “#Choos- that the person (whether convicted of the resources to assist people in their in Seattle, namely the Northwest amount of time, dependent upon the (and drew criticism) last March for Journal, decrying the flight of young about branding. “Rhode Island is just eRI” hashtag on the first page alone. a felony or a misdemeanor) is only applications. A collaborative, state- Community Bail Fund. The King conviction, which can be extremely pushing a bill, the “Qualified Family people.

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