Dear Editor,
I want to commend the Office of the Mayor for partnering with the Biden-Harris Administration and local agencies, as well as Lyft, to help break down several employment barriers existing within the Augusta-Richmond area. As a staunch advocate of advancement opportunities for the formerly incarcerated, I was moved to learn that Augusta Technical College is expanding its partnership with both the Augusta District Attorney’s Office and Richmond County Correctional Facility to provide skilled trade training to persons currently incarcerated.
I found it interesting that Mayor Garnett Johnson, in a July 22 guest column published by the Augusta Press, properly mentioned that “opportunities for the recently incarcerated, and for all Georgians, have only increased since Augusta’s designation as one of five Biden-Harris Administration Workforce Hubs.” Being an Augusta resident since 2014, I can say that I saw nothing like this during the Trump Administration, which I also find strange considering our current representative in Washington, D.C. is a member of the Grand Ole’ Party. Perhaps I am missing something.
As a follow up to the mayor’s column, I would like to inform ex-offenders living in the Augusta area and beyond of other opportunities that may incentivize their ability to steer clear of negative interactions with law enforcement. Georgia Code § 25-4-8(a)(2) provides that a convicted felon is eligible for employment as a firefighter, provided that the convicted felon shall “not have been convicted of, or pleaded guilty to, a felony in any jurisdiction or of a crime which if committed in this state would constitute a felony under the laws of this state within ten years prior to employment, provided that a person who has been convicted of a felony more than five but less than ten years prior to employment.” Other mandatory qualifications do apply.
Ever thought about working for the Department of Corrections? Well, Rule 125-2-1-.02(c) of the Rules and Regulations of the State of Georgia has left the door wide open for applicants previously convicted of a felony, providing that a convicted felon “being considered for employment by the Department of Corrections under the jurisdiction of the State Board of Corrections must first be individually approved by the Commissioner of the Department of Corrections and then submitted to the State Board of Corrections for their review and approval.”
I am quite sure many of my TAP brothers and sisters will approve of and share knowledge of these opportunities, especially those of us who intend to vote for a convicted felon this November. If you are willing to vote for a convicted felon to assume Office of President of the United States, you certainly should not mind helping me spread the word of these life-changing possibilities to convicted felons at the lower level.
Lastly, I want to bring attention to James White III, an assistant solicitor general within the Fulton County (Atlanta) Solicitor General’s Office. ASG White went from being a prisoner to being a prosecutor. Upon his release after serving three years in prison for robbery, White went to college, then to law school, eventually earning a law degree. As a convicted felon who has served not one but two prison sentences for felony drug possession, my confidence received an immediate boost when a friend brought White’s achievement to my attention.
Yes, I have a challenged background. However, my background is just that, a “back” ground that will remain exactly where it is, not to impede my future. This Fall, I will begin my journey as a pre-law student at one of Georgia’s most popular universities, and with the LSAT already taken, all that is left for me to do is keep my GPA at an above average level to realize my law school ambition. You see, these things are possible. I realize Augusta is a notch or two, or three, behind Atlanta when it comes to forgiving convicted felons and allowing major opportunities like those that exist in Atlanta to take root in Augusta.
But it is not impossible. The blueprint is readily available for anyone, convicted felon and hiring official, to exercise that invisible nexus to an overall better community with less crime. It seems Mayor Johnson’s office is not lost on what it takes to move Augusta forward, and that is why the Office of Mayor, along with the Biden-Harris Administration and participating local agencies, deserve recognition and commendation.
Lawrence A. Brannen
Founder & President of The Justice-Impacted Reformation Society, Inc.
