Discrimination

Ethical Cornerstones
A commitment to restorative justice means addressing the hurt of each person whose life has been touched by crime. Retributive justice often reflects the spirit of vengeance and ignores the systemic societal dimensions associated with crime. The challenge is to incapacitate offenders in a manner that limits violence, and holds open the possibility of conversion and restoration. (ELCA Statement on the Death Penalty).

Restorative justice points to government responsibility for:
· protecting society.
· promoting wholeness of life (1 Timothy 2:1-2).
· encouraging family support (support of loved ones is essential for wholeness of individual and society).

Educational Discrimination – Background

· Access to higher education is important for all individuals.

· Higher education is statistically related to low recidivism.

· One NY community college campus bars persons with felony convictions from applying unless they live in that county.

What Will Help Educational Discrimination
· Making it illegal for an institution of higher education to discriminate against individuals because of a criminal conviction.

· Forthcoming legislation

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Employment Discrimination – Background
The same employment protections are not extended to employees as to job applicants

· New York requires employers to consider individually each applicant with a criminal history and makes it illegal to deny that person a job or expect specific criteria to be met.

· Employers can terminate employees at will on the basis of their criminal histories, even if there is no direct relationship between the criminal offense(s) and the job.


What Will Help Employment Discrimination
· Extending the protections of job applicants with criminal records to those already employed.

· S7730 (Volker) extends these protections.

(5/2006)