Advocates want public sector blackout for ex-cons reviewed

Human rights advocates are urging the Government to revisit its policy ban on the employment of ex-convicts in the public sector if it is serious about rehabilitation and reintegration.

The call is being made against the backdrop of the recent dismissal of an ex-inmate who secured employment as a judge’s orderly at the Supreme Court but was quickly relieved of his duties after it was uncovered that he had been previously convicted of robbery with aggravation.

Interestingly, the inmate was posted to work with the same judge who had convicted him, a situation that gave the judge quite a shock when he saw him in his office.

But prisoner’s rights advocate Maria Carla Gullotta, executive director of the human-rights organisation Stand Up For Jamaica, said the incident puts into sharp focus the issue of rehabilitation and reintegration on the island.

While emphasising that reintegration means a second chance, she questioned how the country’s private sector and entrepreneurs could be encouraged to employ ex-convicts if the Government is the first one to turn them away.

“I invite the Government to take a good look at the words reintegration and rehabilitation,” she said yesterday.

“Rehabilitation is key, and if we do not allow them to achieve a job, we invite them to go back to a life of crime,” she said.

“I am aware that ex-convicts are banned from working with the government agencies, but the Government should review that position,” Gullotta stressed.

At the same time, she acknowledged that there are some sensitive jobs for which an ex-convict would not qualify but reasoned that there are several other posts within the public sector that they could fill.

President of the Jamaica Civil Service Association, O’Neil Grant, yesterday confirmed that ex-convicts are not allowed to work in the public sector unless they have received some sort of clemency from the governor general or if their records have been expunged.

Human rights attorney John Clarke, who is also a board member of Jamaicans for Justice, is also supporting the call for Government to review its stance.

PROBLEMATIC ISSUE

He said that the incident highlights the fact that there is a presumption that ex-convicts do not have the requisite character to be employed because of their conviction.

“If that is the case, persons cannot be rehabilitated, and it begs the question as to how many jobs in this country persons who have been convicted are qualified to be employed.

“ ... Are they qualified to be members of the society that will never see them as rehabilitated? And then it begs the question as to how do we expect crime to reduce in our society,” he said.

Clarke said the issue is problematic and may also be a constitutional breach as it is discriminatory, adding that the dismissed inmate may very well have a good case against the State.

“What if the Government has that position and all private institutions adopt that position, how do they work?” he asked.

When contacted, Justice Minister Delroy Chuck said that while he supports rehabilitation, the ex-convict’s conviction was less than a decade ago and such a person would require more time to be considered as being sufficiently rehabilitated and for reintegration.

“With due respect, you cannot expect that a person who has served time in custody and within 10 years, he is back in a position where he can ignore his previous conviction. At the very minimum, 10 years should have been passed, not only between his conviction and the serving of his sentence,” he said.

Further, Chuck said one has to consider that the ex-convict was convicted in a matter for which expungement is rarely given.

In the meantime, he expressed concern about what appeared to have been a breakdown in the recruitment process.

“There have to be some problems with the process of recruiting this man because if he was convicted, the Court Administration Division should have been aware, and it is really, really embarrassing and I sympathise with the judge who had to face a person who should have been properly checked on before he was employed,” he said.

Grant, however, believes there should be no restrictions on employing in the public sector ex-offenders who have served their time and have been sufficiently rehabilitated if they have the requisite skills.

Pertaining to the case at hand, he questioned whether steps had been taken to find out if the ex-convict had been granted clemency by the governor general.

However, Grant said, “It may be a situation where he did not properly identify himself as an ex-convict, and if he did and they did not follow up on it, it could have been handled a little bit differently.”