Letter to the Editor

To the Editor:

My name is Jennifer Bishop. I am a mother, a daughter, I have my GED, year-and-a-half of college behind me in business management, beautiful, smart, you name it, your average neighbor. I love outdoors adventures, softball, cookouts, food and fun. Dedicated, hard worker, self-motivated. But, I’m also a felon. I was found guilty of my charges and sent to prison, so, therefore I served my time. So since my time is served why can’t I find a good job? Since I have been out of prison I’ve learned a lot of things. I have learned you can’t be a felon and get a good job anywhere around here. Why that is I wonder? They say equal opportunity employer, but we both know a felon, a non felon can have the same exact qualifications down to the T and that non felon is going to get that job a lot faster than that felon is. But I paid my debt to society right so how come I can’t find a job? How come I can’t get anyone to give me a chance? You know that’s why a lot of felons resort back to their old lifestyles because society only gives us what we already know. We try to better ourselves and we can’t because society will not let us. When we get released from prison and we try to do good and we trying to be a better person and we try to do right and look for jobs and be sober and a good citizen but we can’t be because we still have families to feed and we still have bills to pay so what are we left with? Resorting back to our old lifestyles because that’s all society will give us. So if you wonder why felons are still you know being criminals and doing what they do it’s because of you society because you won’t allow us to better ourselves because you won’t give us a chance because you won’t help America grow how does that make you feel?

Jennifer Bishop El Dorado