Nearly 1,000 supporters of the Public Safety Act of 2006’s Criminal Offender Record Information reform gathered at the Boston Common’s Parkman Bandstand Thursday to rally and march to the Statehouse, demanding the legislature pass a bill that would make it easier to erase criminal records.
The bill, which would enhance current legislation filed by Rep. Eugene O’Flaherty (D-Boston), aims to purge criminal records of people who were erroneously charged or found not guilty of a crime. Also under the bill, employers will be trained to read criminal record reports — which will be sealed after seven years, compared to the current 15-year minimum.
Many people who said they were unable to get jobs due to their CORI — the official record that is provided to a person’s potential employer — spoke at the rally, noting the “cycle” ex-offenders are forced to go through.
Jen Burc, a member of the Ex-Prisoners and Prisoners Organizing for Community Advancement from Worcester, handcuffed herself to other members of the organization to “symbolize that after people pay their debt, they still have chains.”
Organizations attending the rally included the Massachusetts Association to Reform CORI, the Massachusetts Organization for Addiction Recovery and the ACLU of Worcester.
Former Sen. Joe Timilty (D-Bristol), honorary chair of the PSA Coalition, admitted to the crowd that he has a CORI, saying he wants “the world to get over it.”
“We paid our price,” said Timilty, who was convicted on federal charges in 1993 for real estate fraud. “It’s up to us to get those people to represent us and change their minds.”
He said it is “common sense” to eliminate CORIs for people receiving “not guilty” verdicts because the records often prevent people from gaining employment
“My constituency has one common denominator,” he told the The Daily Free Press. “They don’t have money.”
The diverse crowd chanted, “We want justice now,” while holding signs with the telephone numbers of various state legislators, including Sen. President Robert Travaglini (D-Boston), Speaker of the House Salvatore DiMasi (D-Boston) and the House Judiciary Committee
City Councilor Chuck Turner (Dorchester, Roxbury) urged the crowd to organize a call-in campaign to appeal to Statehouse legislators.
“If they say there’s enough jobs for people with CORIs, they’re lying,” Turner said. “There are twice as many people in the state looking for jobs as jobs that are available … We have a crisis.”
Rep. Michael Festa (D-Melrose) said the problem the bill addresses is primarily applicable to urban areas, adding that representatives from suburban areas have exacerbated the problems record-holders face because fewer of their constituents hold criminal records.
“Conservative Republicans are part of the reason why we’re dealing with this crap right now,” he said.
Co-chair on the Mental Health and Substance Abuse Committee Sen. Steven Tolman (D-Boston) also called for improved detoxification programs, noting that 85 percent of inmates in substance abuse programs have limited options when they are released, leading to a cycle of crime.
Many speakers emphasized that the CORIs are no longer an issue of race, with 2.8 Massachusetts residents holding a CORI, according to the state’s central database. In 2005, roughly 1.5 million CORI reports were sent out to employers or volunteer organizations across the state.
Rep. Major Owens (D-NY) called CORI reform a “survival issue.”
“We want to survive and prosper,” he said. “We want a piece of the American dream. Too many think it’s right to be casual about the rights of people at the bottom.”
