ex-convict

4 Stories

One Conviction Shouldn't Ruin Your Life

Two professors decry laws that punish criminals indefinitely

(Newser) - In 2010, the Chicago Public School system decided not to hire Darrell Langdon, a single father of two, as a boiler-room engineer. Why? Because it found out he'd once been convicted of possessing a half-gram of cocaine—in 1985. Such stories are common these days, both because a whopping...

Boxer, 52, Wins Debut After Years Wrongly Jailed

Dewey Bozella wins his 'first and last fight'

(Newser) - After 26 years behind bars for a crime he didn't commit, a 52-year-old boxer finally got his chance to go pro—and won his first fight. "I used to lay in my cell and dream about this happening," says Dewey Bozella. "It was all worth it....

Ga. Governor to Farms: Hire Ex-Cons, Not Immigrants

One farmer says they're 'scared to death' of the idea

(Newser) - Georgia Gov. Nathan Deal has a suggestion for all the farmers panicking over a new law cracking down on illegal immigrant labor: Hire ex-convicts instead. A state-commissioned survey this week showed that farmers expected to be short about 11,000 laborers thanks to the law, which requires businesses with 10...

Huckabee Freed Man Sought in Wash. Cop Massacre

Then-gov commuted repeat felon's sentence

(Newser) - A man being sought as a "person of interest" in the execution-style slayings of four police officers this morning in Lakewood, Wash., was 11 years into a decades-long prison term in Arkansas when then-governor Mike Huckabee approved the commutation of his sentence. Prosecutors objected to clemency for Maurice Clemmons,...

4 Stories