A new bill backed by Maryland lawmaker Nick Charles will seek to make it possible for released prisoners who have not committed violent crimes to find jobs at casino floors and get back to their normal lives.
Maryland Wants to Offer Ex-Convicts a Fighting Chance
The bill will still single out some crimes and consider them non-eligible for holding a job in the industry. Presently, the proposal is being moved through the House of Representatives, but there hasn’t been a floor vote just yet.
The bill also seeks to amend the current Maryland law that effectively prevents people on parole, probation or conviction to apply for jobs at a lottery or gambling venue for a period of at least seven years starting from the date of the offense.
However, this new law would do away with some of the needless restrictions and make it so that people who are willing to reintegrate into society have places to find employment. Essentially, offenders whose crimes aren’t linked to gambling will have the opportunity to now apply for a job at any of the six Maryland casinos.
Charles is confident that this is the way forward for the industry and the penal justice system. Reintegration is a key part of making sure that people do not slide into bad habits or return back to prison. “The goal is for everybody to be re-acclimated in society and be productive citizens,” the lawmaker told WTOP.com.
He is confident that people who are battling various addictions that led to their crimes would now be able to get a proper job and sustain themselves while turning their lives around. Charles meant specifically substances-abuse, such as alcohol, when he spoke about addictions.
“So this is a great opportunity for them to get that second chance,” the lawmaker assured, while casinos will also have a larger pool of employees to pick from.
Maryland Has Been Trying for Many Years Now
But the issue is not new. Attempts to open the gambling job market to ex-convicts have been going on for many years since 2013 at the very least.
Back then, a bill made it out of the General Assembly, but it didn’t really clear anything past that. Meanwhile, law enforcement and judicial experts and people with criminal records have affirmed that being cut off from the gambling market has made people more likely to go back to their bad habits.