Entry Ten

Day Twenty-Five

I'm sitting in class right now doing a background check on Omar. I won't give his full name on here per his request but I found more mugshots that I anticipated just from searching his name and home County. Six arrests in total. The earliest one being the one I've been talking about. Everything after that is a non violent offense; a mix of drug possession charges, parole violation, and one that I don't even understand, "county sent - FEL". That one adds a whole other mugshot and arrest for a charge that I couldn't identify, even through research. Any workplace(any person with his last name and knowledge of the state he lives in, really) can access this information. He looks like an absolute felon on these websites promoting "reliable background checks" for employers. I remember the times when his little brother would tell me about his struggle in finding a job. One violent charge nearly six years ago and nothing to imply that he'll act in that way agian(not to mention he was only 19 when it happened). What are you to do when you have a kid to support, you can't get a job anywhere because your job application is a one way ticket to mugshot scrapbook, and you're twenty six years old? The system is failing way too many people and rehabilitation is nonexistent, nor do they guide you in the direction to be able to find anything at all to do for money. It's built to make you find other ways to make money, end up back in prison, and come out to the same situation. It feels like a single arrest for a lot of people is a life sentence. Don't get me wrong, there are people who deserve to be imprisoned, but non violent offenses and mistakes made when we are young are far from defining who we are as a person.

That's why I do it