Page 28 - bon-dia-aruba-20220712

A28 u.s. news
Diamars 12 Juli 2022

Dire US labor shortage provides opportunity for ex-prisoners

The practice of employing According to the National mended him to Upchurch
people with a criminal record Conference of State Legisla- Services, a Mississippi-based
is known as “second-chance tures, barriers faced by people company that allows work-
hiring.” with felony convictions were ers to take classes in repair
linked to a loss of at least 1.7 services while gaining experi-
In rosier economic times, million employees from the ence in the field. McGowan
many former prisoners faced workforce and a cost of at was hired the second week of
steep obstacles to finding least $78 billion to the econo- May.
work. The labor shortage my in 2014, the year that Mc-
sparked by the COVID-19 Gowan left prison. He makes $15 per hour,
pandemic now presents them The current desperate straits working 40 hours per week
with opportunities, said Eric in which employers now find with paid overtime. He said
Beamon, a recruiter for Mag- themselves could help spur he has full health care cover-
Cor, a company that provides a change. In a 2021 survey age — and he loves the work.
job training to people in Mis- conducted by the Society for
sissippi correctional facilities. Human Resource Manage- “Summer, winter, spring or
(AP) — When Antonio ability of his income proved ment, or SHRM; the SHRM fall, you’ll need either heat
McGowan left the Missis- challenging. Disconnection “We think the pandemic, Foundation and the Charles or air conditioning,” he said.
sippi State Penitentiary at notices and unpaid bills piled in a sense, was a big help,” Koch Institute, 53% of hu- “So I found something I can
Parchman after serving 17 up. Beamon said. “If no one man resource professionals help people out with. At the
years, he was free for the wants to work anymore or if said they would be willing same time, it can keep me in
first time since he was 15. “Things weren’t in place,” everyone wants to work from to hire people with criminal the working class, so I don’t
But as an adult finally out McGowan said. “They home, employers are begging records — up from just 37% fall back into the things I
from behind bars, he im- weren’t where I wanted them for employees.” in 2018. used to do.”
mediately found himself to be as far as being an indi-
confined to menial labor. vidual back in society. It was Some studies have shown That’s where programs like Beamon, one of numerous
a struggle.” that stable jobs are a major Hinds County Reentry and recruiters staffing booths at
McGowan needed stable factor in reducing recidivism. MagCor step in, helping to a job fair for ex-prisoners
work, for a paycheck and to After several years adrift, Mc- Still, not everyone is willing make former inmates more in Jackson recently — other
keep busy, but temporary gigs Gowan was finally able to re- to hire an ex-convict, and a desirable as candidates by companies represented in-
were all he could find. Just as gain his footing with the help lack of job opportunities for properly training them to cluded Waffle House, Ama-
those around him counseled of the Hinds County Re- those with a criminal record reintegrate into society and zon and Columbus, Missis-
the importance of maintain- entry Program, a workforce is still stymieing workforce matching them with jobs tai- sippi-based Lyle Machinery
ing a routine, he became training program for former participation in the economy, lored to their skills and inter- — said he has seen an influx
trapped in a cycle of odd inmates created in October. Stephanie Ferguson, a senior ests. of new jobs and wages that
jobs and irregular hours. He Reentry programs are one manager of employment pol- are rising precipitously, some
trimmed grass one week and way employers are trying to icy at the U.S. Chamber of McGowan said he’d like to to as much as $20 per hour.
painted a house the next. But fill some of the 11.3 million Commerce, wrote in a May work in air conditioning and Mississippi has not enacted a
he couldn’t land anything open jobs in the U.S. amid a report. heating repair, and the pro- state minimum wage, and the
full time, and the unpredict- dire national labor shortage. gram’s staff members recom- federal standard is still $7.25.

Judges rule on state abortion restrictions, shape Roe impact

(AP) — A Utah judge granted a request from stitution. The issue reverted to the states, setting Thomas Gilligan also struck down requirements
Planned Parenthood to delay implementing off new court battles and ballot initiatives as many that only physicians can perform abortions and
the state’s trigger law banning most abor- states act to curtail or ban abortions. that abortions after the first trimester must be per-
tions, keeping them legal up to 18 weeks until formed in hospitals. His order took effect immedi-
the court rules on the ban’s constitutionality. Utah is among more than a dozen states with trig- ately, meaning the limits can’t be enforced.
ger laws designed to limit abortion upon the over-
With the ruling, Utah maintains its position among turning of Roe v. Wade. The Utah law bans nearly Gender Justice and other abortion rights supporters
a group of states where abortion rights are in legal all abortions, except for in cases of rape, incest or argued that the restrictions were unconstitutional
limbo amid lawsuits challenging bans on state con- when maternal health is threatened. A Republican- under a 1995 Minnesota Supreme Court holding
stitutional grounds. appointed judge blocked its enforcement for 14 that the state constitution protects abortion rights.
days after the state’s branch of Planned Parenthood The judge called that case “significant and historic”
“This law selects a single view of abortion and im- sued. and said it’s unaffected by the recent U.S. Supreme
poses it on everyone,” Judge Andrew Stone said, Court ruling.
arguing that Planned Parenthood’s arguments Planned Parenthood argues the law violates the
merited further consideration. Utah Constitution’s equal protection and right to “These abortion laws violate the right to privacy
privacy provisions. Utah’s attorneys argue that state because they infringe upon the fundamental right
The decision comes two weeks after Stone put a abortion bans pre-dating Roe span to when the under the Minnesota Constitution to access abor-
temporary hold on the law which bans abortions state constitution was drafted and accuse Planned tion care and do not withstand strict scrutiny,” Gil-
with exceptions for rape, incest or maternal health. Parenthood of trying to “interrupt and ultimately ligan wrote.
override the Legislature’s judgment.”
The implications of the U.S. Supreme Court over- Opponents of abortion rights condemned the deci-
turning Roe v. Wade are being sorted out nation- The judge granted a preliminary injunction, which sion. Minnesota Citizens Concerned for Life said
wide. would let Planned Parenthood clinics continue to the laws challenged in the case are “common sense
provide abortion care until the court rules on the measures that support and empower pregnant
A Minnesota judge declared most of that state’s re- constitutional questions. women” and striking them down blocks residents
strictions on abortion unconstitutional. In Michi- from “enacting reasonable protections for unborn
gan, a campaign turned in a record-breaking num- Since the case began, another Utah law banning children and their mothers.” A Republican attor-
ber of signatures so voters can be asked on the No- most abortions after 18 weeks took effect. ney general candidate called on the Democratic at-
vember ballot whether to enshrine abortion rights torney general to appeal.
in the state constitution. The judge in Minnesota declared most of the
state’s restrictions on abortion unconstitutional, Alongside lawsuits to challenge bans, abortion
Last month’s Dobbs v. Jackson ruling overturned including a 24-hour waiting period and a require- rights supporters are trying to add ballot questions
the 1973 Roe v. Wade ruling that found that the ment that both parents be notified before a minor to enshrine abortion rights in state constitutions.
right to abortion was protected by the U.S. Con- can get an abortion. Ramsey County District Judge