Having a criminal record comes with a price even after one has served his or her time. Criminal records have long-lasting effects on individuals even after their probation or parole term has expired. Being labeled a “criminal” with a criminal conviction on one’s record exempts people for many opportunities including employment, benefits, and housing access. 

History students across the country grow up learning that the United States of America is “the land of the free” but what they aren’t being taught is that the US is also the land of the harshly punished and overly incarcerated as well. Currently, the U.S. has the highest incarceration rate in the WORLD with an incarceration rate that has increased by 500 percent over the past 40 years. A closer look at how harsh the US is when it comes to punishment, one would find that 1 out 7 individuals incarcerated is serving a life sentence; that is a whooping 314,000 people that will spend significant portions of their lives locked down in a jail cell like an animal. 

Once a person completes a court order probation, serves a prison sentence day-for day or time served in conjunction with a period of time spent on parole, the truth of the situation is the court order punishment has ended. The debt owed to society is considered paid upon successfully discharging a sentence. However for many individuals with criminal records, the balance owed for breaking the law extends beyond incarceration, probation, and parole. ​

Please join me in a fictitious tale based on unfortunate real life events. Times have always been hard for Marquan, a Shreveport native, for as far back as he could remember. He never had money for lunch let alone fifty cents for fundraising popcorn sold after school. He was very observant about the fact that his red shirts weren’t as bright as many of his elementary peers’ red shirts when they wore them. He noticed how white the shoe strings were on their brand new shoes and he resented the fact that he had never been given shoes fresh out of a box before. Marquan’s observant eye continued to admire the fortunes of other students all the way up to high school. ​

March to commemorate the Texas Southern University 1960 Student Sit-ins
Check out the interview given by Pure Justice Executive Director on KPRC regarding this event here!