Criminal records shouldn’t decide futures

Students across the country are waiting on acceptance letters from their dream schools. For some of them, that future hinges on a question about their past.

“Have you ever been charged with or convicted of or pled guilty or nolo contendere to a crime other than a minor traffic offense, or are there any criminal charges now pending against you?”

Colleges and universities ask these questions on application forms seemingly to protect their campuses’ moral compass.  But this goes against their overall commitment of providing education; a student’s admission to higher education is critical for escaping a cycle of poverty and crime.

Potentially rejecting them because they were once caught up by those cycles only deepens the problem. If higher education wants to break this hopeless and broken cycle, questions about criminal history should not be part of the admissions process.

According to a 2009 study by the Center for Community Alternatives, 66 percent of the responding colleges collect criminal justice information, and 55 percent of them consider it in their admissions process.

The Common Application, which more than 600 colleges use, also asks applicants whether they have been convicted of a crime or faced serious disciplinary action in school. Pitt does not ask about criminal history in its undergraduate applications, but some graduate programs do require it. Additionally, those convicted of a federal or state crime cannot receive federal assistance.

The 2009 study also reported, though, that the 38 percent of responding schools that do not collect or use criminal justice information do not report less safe campuses.  It is unclear, then, what these policies actually offer other than an additional obstacle for the underprivileged.

Additionally, these questions hurt people even if they are innocent.

The FBI estimated that more than the past 20 years, authorities have made more than a quarter of a billion arrests, resulting in 77.7 million individuals in its criminal database — or nearly one out of every three American adults. These arrests may have never led to a conviction for a serious crime, but countless students would have to check yes despite the system’s inherent flaws.

Having a criminal record could deter people from getting an education, financial aid, a job or a housing loan — the foundations of a new life.

Some schools, like many community colleges, accept everyone who applies. These policies are admirable, but with no financial aid, accessing even these schools is prohibitively difficult. For many of these people, there is a total lack of financial infastructure.

The alternative to denying access to these essential opportunities can be another filled jail cell. According to the Bureau of Justice Statistics, a study of prisoners from 2005 to 2010 revealed that 76.6 percent of released prisoners were arrested again within five years. The high recidivism rates only strengthen the mass incarceration rates that make the United States responsible for nearly 22 percent of the world’s prison population. These questions also unfairly block minority students, as people of color are disproportionately convicted for crimes  at nearly six times the rate of whites.

These systemic injustices are also targeting the nation’s youth well before college applications are in sight.

The school-to-prison pipeline is a national trend where schools’ zero-tolerance policies force children into juvenile justice systems. These rules lead to suspensions and harsh disciplinary action for any infraction the school deems worthy.

Although schools have justified the strict enforcements with increased safety efforts, it ironically puts students even more at risk by keeping them home or out in the streets when they could be learning in a controlled environment.

Students of color are most vulnerable to these push-out movements — many having histories of poverty, abuse and neglect. Last year, PBS cited a SuspensionStories study which reported that 40 percent of students expelled from U.S. schools each year are black, and 70 percent of students involved in “in-school” arrests or referred to law enforcement are black or Latino.

Such alarming statistics put minorities at a severe disadvantage when universities request records about past disciplinary actions. If a university rejects these students based on those answers, it can cause a minor offense to have dramatic consequences later in life. This trend reflects society’s prioritization of criminalization over education.

Instead of looking to our prisons as the only avenue of rehabilitating criminals, we need education to fill the role. We must give them the chance to transition into society and obtain education, jobs, voting rights, expungements and a fair opportunity to reestablish themselves.

A false sense of security doesn’t justify real, lifelong consequences.

Kirsten Wong primarily writes on social justice issues and education for The Pitt News

Write to her at kew101@pitt.edu