Fair employment news and resources

11-3-16 National:

The National Employment Law Project (NELP) recently published its November 2016 On the Record: Fair Employment newsletter which provides links and information on a number of interesting developments related to collateral consequences and criminal record mitigation. The full newsletter is available at link below: ..Continued.. by National Employment Law Project

EDITORIAL: Lonnie Green saga demonstrates need for better judgments, wiser laws

8-25-2012 National:

If Mart city employee Lonnie Green’s saga of triumph, despair and desperation demonstrates anything, it’s that justice is often blind in how it’s meted out. This can be particularly true when it concerns sexual offenses, which American society rightly abhors and condemns. Yet there’s a big difference between foolish teens having consensual sex and, say, a middle-aged teacher, pastor or coach sexually preying on youths when he or she knows better.

Many of us only have to think of all the stupid deeds and misdeeds pondered, contemplated and maybe even done in the immaturity of youth to understand the tragedy of Green’s life. A high school football star with visions of playing pro, Green saw his dreams implode when at age 17 he provided alcohol for a party and gave some to a 14-year-old girl before the two ended up in a bedroom having sex. Court documents indicate the girl also had sex with another male at the party.

In any case, the girl’s father went to police a few days later and Green’s troubles began. Some more stupid mistakes, including breaking curfew and visiting the scene of his glories at Mart High School in violation of his probationary terms, finally landed him in prison for seven years. And since getting out, he has had to annually register as a sex offender.

Now 33 and married, Green makes $9 an hour as a laborer for the city of Mart, which has an ordinance limiting how close a sex offender can live to a place where children congregate. And two weeks ago a mother of six spoke to the town council and, holding up a picture of her 12-year-old daughter, demanded that Green be fired for the safety of all children in the area.

Norfolk man gets chance to be free of the label 'offender'

3-30-2014 Nebraska:

LINCOLN — Randy Weich stands before two rare opportunities that could change the course of his life.

One could restore his reputation.

The other could revive a dream.

The 25-year-old Norfolk man recently participated in a free-agent tryout for a chance to punt in the National Football League. His odds of making it, though slim, would improve if not for three words that turn up on the background check: registered sex offender.

So when Weich isn't punting, he's working toward a pardon.

He took a step closer Thursday when the Nebraska Board of Pardons granted his request for a hearing. On May 20 he'll get to make a case for clemency, which also would scrub his name from the sex offender registry.

The Pardons Board rarely considers the applications of sex offenders. But board members said they are willing to listen to this one because Weich has lived an exemplary life except for one crime committed as a 14-year-old.

He didn't rape, fondle or even touch anyone. In 2003 he and two other teenage boys made a secret video of two or three female classmates using a shower at his mother's house in Pierce, Neb. The incident involved a game of truth-or-dare and the camera also caught one of the girls using the toilet, according to documents in his Pardons Board application.

Three years later the video was discovered and turned over to police by the girls. Weich, who had turned 18, was charged as an adult and later convicted of two felony counts of child pornography.

His many supporters have argued that while Weich made a serious mistake, the charges didn't fit the crime. They pointed out that the video wasn't uploaded to the Internet, nor did Weich and the other boys use it for sexual gratification.

But the video still caused harm.

A 46-year-old Pierce man whose then-13-year-old daughter was on the tape said she underwent counseling and struggled with trust issues. He also said she endured pressure from those in Pierce who resented the charges against a star high school athlete.

Inside the life of a registered sex offender

2-23-2014 Colorado:

According to the Colorado Bureau of Investigation, there are currently more than 10,000 registered sex offenders living in Colorado. Chances are some of them live in your community.

9NEWS was given a rare look at what life is like for a registered sex offender years after they committed their crime.

"August 16th of 2006... I was arrested for chatting online with an undercover officer... I thought this person was a 13-year-old girl," said Brent (we are not using Brent's last name due to privacy), a registered sex offender.

On that warm August day, Brent found himself surrounded by officers inside his high paying job at Lockheed Martin. From that moment forward he would be labeled a sex offender and lose every ounce of freedom.

"I was charged with criminal intent of sexual assault on a child," said Brent.

"I was just shocked. I don't know what else to say. I cried," Brent's wife Amanda replied.

In the months that followed, Amanda would learn more about her husband's problem. It turns out Brent had been battling his demons for years. In 2003, Brent says, he tried chatting with an underage girl online but got cold feet and backed away. Stressed by this information, Amanda nearly walked away from Brent... But ultimately, she stayed.

Man haunted by sex offender with same name & birthdate

2-12-2014 New York:

Imagine not being able to land a job because you have the same name and birth date as a convicted sex offender. A Buffalo man is facing that very tough situation right now.

It is an indescribable frustration facing John Lamar Johnson, a North Buffalo man with family to provide for, who says he’s not giving up until his name is cleared.

When your name is John Johnson, you know you’re not the only one out there.

“I told my mom I wanted to change it. She said no, I gave you that name,” John said.

Unfortunately for this John Johnson, there is another man in Buffalo who shares the same name, the same date of birth, and just happens to be a registered sex offender.

“There is no way I should be associated with this guy. We don’t look the same,” he said.

They don’t have the same middle name either. But that doesn’t matter. Because John C. Johnson the sex offender is now haunting John L. Johnson the father of 5, who’s never been convicted of a serious crime.

Sex-offender registry misguided thinking

UPDATE:

2-10-2014 Kentucky:

I am a sex offender.

I know well the tremendous power of those words. In 2007, I pled guilty to possession of child pornography.

Nothing here is meant to defend what I did or to minimize the gravity of my actions. I had a major problem with pornography, and I was far too deep in denial and too scared to reach out to anyone.

Help eventually came when my girlfriend discovered child porn on my computer and went to the police. I was then and remain grateful to her for taking that step.

As I went through the legal process after my arrest, I developed a keen interest in the law, and a sincere desire to advocate on the behalf of those who are hated, who are lost, and who are forgotten. With luck, I managed to win acceptance to law school despite my conviction. I worked harder than I'd ever worked in my life, because I knew I'd have a lot to do to overcome my past. I did well in school, graduated, secured a job at a law firm after disclosing my past, and applied to take the bar exam.

Recently, the Kentucky Supreme Court ruled that I will not be allowed to take the bar exam until I am no longer on the sex-offender registry, which will be another 18 years from now.

But the point I want to make is not about me. It isn't about my case. I am not here to say whether the court's decision was right or wrong. The principles at play are much larger than me.