Reentry Housing Issue

For some background, CU Indivisible has laid out an overview of the issue which I've shared in a Cheat Sheet post here. More on the Racial Justice Task Force recommendations here.From the News-Gazette today:

For felons, Champaign's housing code a hindrance
When a person returns to society after prison, the clock immediately starts ticking.

To reintegrate back into civilian life, most journeys start with finding sustainable employment and housing. Time is of the essence as each post-release day and week goes by.

The longer one goes without employment or housing could heighten their chances of falling back into the criminal justice system. Once a month has passed, James Kilgore argues, a person's future is likely determined.

"Some people even talk about the first week being the most critical," the former Symbionese Liberation Army activist said about his own recovery after spending 6 years in a California prison. "It's real easy to lapse into depression or self-medication — a downward spiral."

As co-director of the First Followers re-entry program, Kilgore navigates people through the stark changes that life after prison can bring. He's also part of a push to modify the portion of Champaign's city code that allows for housing discrimination against certain former inmates.

Chapter 17 of the code concerns human rights, and section 17-4.5 was added in 1994 to allow "discrimination in the leasing of residential property based upon a person's record of convictions for a forcible felony or a felony drug conviction or the conviction of the sale, manufacture or distribution of illegal drugs," up to five years after release.

Despite that, the section states that it shouldn't be used to discriminate on the basis of race, ethnicity, disability and other protected categories.

More at the full article here. The key problem with the current language is that it pretends that the results of our criminal justice system haven't already built discrimination into their results. As we've found out time and time again on the national and local level. For example, from a recent RJTF presentation to the County Board (direct video link here):

There was a presentation by Ryan Huges and Doctor Carolyn Randolph from the Racial Justice Task Force advocating for the Community Engagement recommendations to be adopted. They discusses a project (more information here and database here) in coordination with Dr. Bev Wilson and U of I students collecting and analyzing criminal justice statistics in the area from the County Sheriff's department, Jail, Circuit Clerk, and four other police departments. One example they noted was that controlling for age, sex, and type of crime across five departments, Africian-Americans were still four times more likely to go to jail than white suspects.

And it starts early. Unit 4 is already trying to address "pushout" that criminalizes young black women (more on that in a Cheat Sheet post here). The school to prison pipeline isn't some concept foreign to Champaign-Urbana here. Local school disciplinary data shows racial disparities in local school districts and individual schools right here in Champaign County: Education Racial Disparity Data. At every step of the way from police contact, to bail, to legal counsel, prosecution, sentencing, and reentry,... many minorities experience the same justice system differently than whites. Racial disparity rears its ugly head even while controlling for factors other than race.

It is dangerous and unnecessary to throw our hands up in the air and take no responsibility for the discrimination with a law that directly perpetuates it. We can't willfully ignore the other problems and not become complicit in them.

The counter-argument given in this article turns the whole issue on its head. They make it sound like they could no longer screen problematic tenants, which is bass-ackwards. It would require them to actually screen for problematic tenants in order to deny them housing and not just assume all convicts are problematic tenants. There are plenty of completely legal and valid reasons for landlords not to rent to someone with or without a criminal conviction. All of the safety concerns of victims and limits on predators are still there.

The scare tactics are unfortunate given that this language was originally changed without any of the nightmare scenarios being the driving force. In fact, it was exactly what you'd expect it to be... they brought it on themselves. There was zero-regard for inequities in the system or any expectation of rehabilitation or redemption. The message was clear (click to enlarge):

As our community has tried to improve on race and equity, this language remains an anachronistic stain on our community. HUD and the Housing Authority have documented the need for better housing access nationally and laid out why they're also starting to end such restrictions. They perpetuate discrimination and increase recidivism (HUD guidance here).

It's worth noting that this applies only to renters. A wealthy fellow who pleads out to the same felony can still buy a house right next door. It would be illegal to discriminate against him for that conviction. He could rent it out. He could legally discriminate against tenants in the same situation. He could be your landlord. That says it all really.