Restore Returning Citizens
By: George Gipson
It is my humble
privilege and honor to stand before you as a citizen of the United States of
America and member of the State of Minnesota, a veteran , campus pastor at Crossroads Church-Inver Grove
Heights, the owner of Next Step Staffing a company specializing in putting men
and women with barriers to employment to work, and someone who bears the
scarlet number of a past,
06043-041. Everything that I do
is devoted to breaking the cycle of incarceration and addiction.
On July 4th,
1776 these words were penned:
"We
hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they
are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these
are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.--That to secure these rights,
Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the
consent of the governed." This is the foundation of the constitutional
law of this country. That any law passed
should first support and protect these rights and that only in dire and last
resorts limit these rights.
We would not be
the leader of the world in incarcerating our citizens if we truly held these
truths to be self-evident and unalienable.
Our first recourse would not be bars and walls at such a high cost to
the citizens… free
and incarcerated. That if no other recourse was found and that
a citizen was incarcerated that we would put programs and legislation into
place to encourage, not
discourage, re-integration into the
community upon their release. That they
would be treated as returning citizens not as labels that discourage their
right to Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness!
My challenge to
our Legislators and the Department of Corrections is to get rid of the language
and labels of separation like offender, ex-felon and replace it with returning
citizens! That we as citizens are worthy
of the restoration
of dignity, honor, and reintegration into community so that we may once again obtain Life, Liberty, and
the pursuit of happiness! These labels
need to be removed to protect and encourage citizenship and they violate the
very heart of constitutional law for a citizen.
As a returning citizen after the debt has been paid to society, our
restoration should be protected by the law of the land.
In fact, I believe the use of those labels
against a returning citizen to bar employment, housing, and restoration to
community should be extremely
limited. That individuals, companies,
cities, counties, and ordinances like placing residency restrictions against
returning citizens should be found guilty of Civil Rights violations. That to
secure those rights are at the very heart of government! We need to remove the labels and restore hope
of a better future!
Let me put on my
Pastors hat…. Christians on both sides of the aisles and as citizens should be
the first in line for restoration.
Forgiveness and restoration is what is preached across this world and we
should be the first in line to restore men and women to the fabric of
society. Not only do those rights sit on
the shoulders of our forefathers but were endowed by our creator! It should not
only be the tenant of our faith on Sunday mornings, but in our lives, our
homes, businesses, and even in our legislative halls!
I will join
another pastor Jonathan Mayhew that in his sermon in 1750 said, "Taxation
without representation is tyranny".
When we as citizens are paying taxes we should have the right to vote
and have representation. It is the foundation of this
country!
In the 1860's Sarah Wall invoked the "no taxation without
representation" initiating an anti-tax movement that swept across this
country resulting in women having the right to vote.
Voting right
disenfranchisement is serious for our state.
Not only is it racially disparaging because of our current judicial
system, but it is also a big deal from a state government perspective. Can you imagine if every citizen currently
disenfranchised no longer paid taxes because they had no representation? Regardless of your position, "Taxation
without representation is Tyranny"! Restoration of returning citizens into their
community should have at its core the civil liberties of the right to Life,
Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness.
Part of that right is restoration
of representation when living and working in the
community!
Every year
living in the community that I paid taxes and could not vote I was angry. I could not wait to be able to at least have
the right to vote! So I too say, No More
Taxation, Without Representation! Restore the Vote!
In the course of
the next few hours you have the ability to exercise your right as a citizen of
this country and member of the State of Minnesota to visit those that are
elected to govern this State. I want to
encourage you to make those visits. Let
them know that you believe in the constitution and the right of all citizens
that are paying taxes to representation.
Let them know that they are constitutionally bound and elected to uphold
the rights of all citizens to Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of happiness! Including those citizens just released from
incarceration!
Thank you for
allowing me to share in this great day!!