Robert is jumping through hoops.

He's a few months out of prison, and has paid his debt to society and transformed himself into someone committed to his family, citizenship, helping others, and being productive. While in prison he obtained his Maryland high school diploma. He is trained in upholstery and upholstery assembly. He is a master of many clerical tasks and logistics; he did the food service scheduling and ordering for the 2,100 inmates at Maryland's state prison in Hagerstown.

Most tellingly he became a positive leader of men while in prison. "A thing that really makes me a good employee is that I work to motivate those around me," Robert tells me. "I am dependable, hard-working, I pick things up quickly and I solve problems. I am not picky. I would just love to have something sustainable, something that had a health plan, something that allowed me to get in the door and show what I am about and give me a chance to move up."

Robert is 47 years old; he spent nine years in prison and now needs a job.

Many people in our time, of course, need jobs. However, he is one personal measure of what we are as a society: Can we make a place for a citizen like Robert in our community? How we answer says as much about us and our community as it does Robert. Do we believe in redemption? Do we allow for it?

Beyond the question of employment, though, the hoops that Robert and thousands of other Baltimoreans must jump through are the "collateral sanctions" of a criminal conviction. Those informal "sanctions" range from not being able to get a barber's license, to being denied public housing, to being summarily excluded from whole categories of job possibilities.

State and local government rarely acknowledge that such sanctions exist. They are often dismissed with the cliche saying "If you do the crime, you do the time." Almost never acknowledged are these "collateral sanctions" systematically examined as part of an on-going system of punishment.

In an interesting experiment, the state of Ohio is attempting to bring its system of collateral sanctions into view by creating a first-of-its-kind in the nation database. "Called Civil Impacts of Criminal Convictions under Ohio Law, or CIVICC for short, the database allows people to type in a crime or even job title to see the impact," writes Rick Armon in the Akron Beacon Journal. "It is in a beta form and available online at http://opd.ohio.gov/CIVICC/. The completed version is expected to be operational by the end of the year."

Sponsored by the Toledo Bar Association, Ohio State Bar Association, and Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Correction, the database is meant not only to present specific information about collateral sanctions, but more importantly its goal is to also bring attention to the creation of a pariah caste in cities across America. “Part of the message behind [CIVICC] is it’s not just a little ghetto that we can ignore or close our eyes to,” says the deputy director of the Ohio Justice and Policy Center. “It’s a big part of our community and big part of unemployment.”

In a description that could easily fit Maryland the Beacon Journal goes on:

Every day in courts across Ohio, people are pleading guilty to offenses and they have no clue what the lifelong employment consequences of that plea will be,” he said. “It would seem that it would be a pretty important thing for people to know.”

... it makes no sense to banish ex-offenders from the work force.

“We’re all going to pay for that either in new crime or in their poverty, and whole neighborhoods being economically depressed,” he said. “We’re going to pay with the social services, welfare, food stamps, whatever. There are all kinds of ways we’re all paying for this.”

The database creators describe their work this way:

Scope and Purpose

Ohio’s CIVICC database offers a basic overview of the legal barriers that Ohio law imposes on individuals with criminal records. CIVICC is designed for use by all citizens of Ohio and all others with an interest in its subject matter. People who may benefit from using the CIVICC database include:

* Prosecutors considering the effects of possible charging decisions
* Criminal defense attorneys advising clients about a proposed plea bargain
* Criminal defendants deciding whether to plead guilty or proceed to trial
* Government and community planners developing training and rehabilitation programs for correctional facilities
* Incarcerated individuals preparing for return to the community
* Probation and parole officers helping those under their supervision to lead productive and law-abiding lives
* Community members with prior criminal records, training for skilled occupations or seeking employment
* Social service professionals creating and operating workforce development programs
* Volunteers in faith-based and community programs, helping individuals with criminal records and their families to obtain housing, employment, and education
* University scholars conducting social science research
* Public policy analysts and advocates seeking to improve the laws and their application
* Legislators and their staff members, seeking to ensure consistency and fairness in new legislative enactments

In Maryland and Baltimore where elected officials proclaim the power of data-driven decision making with their ComStats, CityStats and StateStats, a database on the civil impacts of criminal convictions is conspicuously absent.

Maryland and Baltimore need such a database to make visible the consequences of our thirty-year commitment to a policy of mass incarceration.

Robert knows deeply the consequences of his actions. He is penitent, humble, and a good man. If anyone has a job opportunity for him they can contact Urbanite here. "I'm not looking for a handout," Robert says. "I am not picky. I just want to sustain this independence I have earned."