CORI Reform

By Wilnelia Rivera

The days of a prisoner “paying his debt to society” and then moving on are long gone. Prospective employers and landlords increasingly seek information about an applicant’s criminal history – called Criminal Offender Record Information or “CORI” in Massachusetts.  Much like reading tea leaves, they then make decisions based on what they perceive such information to reveal, even when the charges were dismissed or the past offense is unrelated to the issue at hand. As a result, ex-offenders too often are denied the very tools – jobs and housing – that prevent the revolving door of recidivism.

The Commonwealth CORI Coalition (CCC) is a broad-based alliance of over 90 organizations.  For the past three years, it has pushed for comprehensive Criminal Offender Record Information (CORI) reform.   Led by Neighbor to Neighbor Massachusetts, this past November the movement reached a critical point when the Massachusetts Senate adopted a comprehensive criminal justice reform bill by an overwhelming vote of 26 to 12.

The bill, S.2220, included the following:

•            Simplified sealing process: Records eligible to be sealed and non-convictions will not be posted in the state’s criminal database system.

•           Ending dissemination of irrelevant, outdated records: The bill shortens the waiting period for sealing CORI to 5 years for a misdemeanor (currently 10 years) and to 10 years for a felony (currently 15 years).  The waiting period starts when the individual is released, rather than at the end of supervision.

•            Helping employers better evaluate job applicants:  The bill also establishes fair hiring standards for CORI users and removes the CORI question as a first-level screen for job applicants, so that employers can better evaluate the risks and benefits of hiring an individual with a CORI.

CCC’s grassroots organizing transformed the push for comprehensive criminal justice reform from a small campaign into a statewide movement that unites a diverse and powerful set of grassroots groups.  Year after year we brought low-income leaders by the busload to the halls of power to make criminal justice policy real for legislators and the public through advocacy, direct action, and media work.  By combining a powerful grassroots and “grasstops” strategy, the CCC has been able to balance the concerns of law enforcement, employers, and communities.

We are currently organizing to win passage of the bill in the state House of Representatives and expect final approval by March.  A majority of the House supports the legislation, Governor Deval Patrick has made criminal justice reform one of his top priorities, and the major business and law enforcement lobby groups in the state have publicly endorsed the measure.

Nonetheless, the current political paralysis that engulfs the Legislature may derail all the support the CCC has gathered over the last three years.  Frustrated by years of inaction and corruption in Beacon Hill, the voters of Massachusetts chose to fill Senator Ted Kennedy’s seat in Congress with an unknown Republican state senator, Scott Brown.

It is clear now more than ever that decades of so-called “tough on crime” public policies have dramatically increased prison, probation, and parole spending while failing to curb recidivism. The Commonwealth can begin to tackle crime in a meaningful way by choosing to be “smart on crime” – increasing employment opportunities for ex-offenders, improving public safety and bringing in new revenue, while reducing recidivism rates and saving taxpayers money.  CORI reform is a vital part of this strategy.  Failure to adopt the legislation will further delay the Commonwealth’s capacity to recover from the current fiscal and economic crisis.

Wilnelia Rivera is the Campaigns Director at Neighbor to Neighbor Massachusetts.  For more information, go to www.n2nma.org.