politics

If you’re interested in sharing your opinion on any cultural, political or personal topic, create an account here and check out our how-to post to learn more.____This summer the nation witnessed and participated in the greatest mass movement of our history. Millions marched through the streets of every major American city. Each of the nearly 550 protests rejected the lynchings of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor and countless others.Demonstrators demanded an end to state-sanctioned violence against Black and Latinx communities. Dismantling the failed War on Drugs is a vital part of this equation, with marijuana reform being a modest but impactful step. Demands and legislative actions must be as comprehensive as the decades of harm has been for millions of people impacted by the criminal legal system and policies that rest solely on punishment and stigma.Congress has a historic opportunity to pass the Marijuana Opportunity Reinvestment & Expungement (MORE) Act (H.R. 3884), a bipartisan bill that will simultaneously address a significant factor in the mass criminalization of Black and Latinx communities and stimulate a COVID-19-devastated economy.Appreciating the United States’ history of drug criminalization is core to understanding why we demand systemic changes to policing and incarceration. The war on drugs has facilitated racially biased policing and police militarization. These practices have shattered the social and economic fabrics of low-income communities and communities of color. Marijuana prohibition laws result in over 600,000 arrests annually and tear apart the lives of millions of individuals and families — disproportionately devastating Black and Latinx people. In addition to the long-lasting trauma of family separation, a criminal record and the thousands of collateral consequences of convictions affects individuals’ ability to find work, secure housing, and provide for their families.By ending federal criminalization of marijuana and allowing states to regulate marijuana without fear of federal interference, the MORE Act will reduce the wrongful over-policing of people of color and begin to tackle mass incarceration. The bill will also provide a community reinvestment fund, answering the calls in support of building community-centered support systems.The MORE Act is the most comprehensive piece of legislation addressing marijuana justice ever considered in Congress. It sets up expungement and resentencing for federal marijuana offenses. It protects people from being denied public benefits like nutrition assistance because of marijuana use or a previous marijuana conviction. We needed the MORE Act even before COVID-19 wreaked havoc on our nation and the world. Now, there is even more urgency as the economic hardships caused by the drug war are compounded by the impacts of this unprecedented global pandemic. Especially during a time of such strong party polarization, it is imperative to capitalize on bills with bipartisan support.According to a recent poll by the Justice Collaborative Institute, 58% of likely voters, including 54% of Republicans, think that the federal government should legalize the use and sale of marijuana. When told about the specifics of the MORE Act, support increased to 60% amongst Republican voters.Due to marijuana convictions and financial barriers, less than one percent of the estimated billion-dollar marijuana industry is currently owned or operated by people of color. While the failed war on drugs exacerbates our economic crisis, the MORE Act will stimulate economic recovery. A legalized marijuana industry will generate hundreds of thousands of new jobs and millions of dollars in revenue. It will allow existing state marijuana regulatory programs to flourish and empower communities to recover from the national recession.In the current economic climate, access to banking is a necessity. With the passage of the MORE Act, the marijuana industry will be able to have a normal banking relationship and be able to accept debit and credit cards, lifting the industry up to current standards, especially during a time when cashless businesses are vital for safety in the wake of COVID-19. Furthermore, the MORE Act includes funds and incentives to states that will help ensure increased access of Black and Latinx entrepreneurs and entrepreneurs impacted by marijuana criminalization have access to the legal marijuana marketplace.We must take every possible action to stimulate the economy and reduce arrests and incarceration. Further, we must fight to actualize the truth that drug use should be treated as a public health issue, not a criminal one.The time for bold leadership is now. Ending federal marijuana prohibition through a racial and economic justice lens is one significant opportunity to deliver on calls for justice and reform. Supporting the MORE Act is justice — I call on other Congressional leaders and Members of Congress to support this vital legislation and swiftly advance it to the floor for a...

Joe Biden and Kamala Harris' campaign has teamed up with the Congressional Black Caucus Political Action Committee to launch a virtual bus tour as an outreach effort to Black voters in battleground states. The partnership between the Biden campaign and the CBC PAC, titled the “Turn Up and Turn out the Vote Virtual Bus Tour,” will launch in North Carolina with an event tomorrow evening to mark the first National Black Voter Day.  According to an exclusive announcement sent to Blavity, the focus of the tour is to "highlight what’s at stake in this election for Black voters." The vice presidential candidate will be on-hand for Friday's event, which will focus on voter registration and early voting. Senator Harris will be joined by Grammy Award-winning singer Anthony Hamilton.Beginning on Friday, the tour will visit battleground states throughout a two-week period. Local Black community leaders will join a Black public figure at each event. The tour will conclude October 1 with a Virginia event centered on voter registration and early voting. During each stop, the virtual tour will focus on voter registration and voting by mail. In light of the ongoing pandemic, more Americans than ever are expected to cast absentee ballots this November. Voter education campaigns and voter resources will be important to assist absentee voting across the country, as rules and deadlines vary by state and many will be voting by mail for the first time.Earlier this summer, BET, in collaboration with the National Urban League among other partners, announced that Friday would mark the first National Black Voter Day. The launch is part of a larger #ReclaimYourVote campaign, which aims to encourage Black voters and battle voter suppression tactics.Black voters have played a integral role in the Biden for President campaign, forming the former Vice President's strongest voting bloc and helping propel Senator Harris to become the first Black woman to vice presidential nominee of a major party. The Biden-Harris ticket has made racial justice a central focus of its campaign. In recent weeks, Biden for President has launched several outreach measures towards Black voters. Shop Talk, a series of ads filmed at a Black-owned barbershop in North Carolina, features Black men discussing the challenges they face in America. Launched after the shooting of Jacob Blake, the socially-distanced conversations have included a number of Black celebrities, intellectuals along with other Black leaders and public figures.Senator Harris also recently launched the Sister to Sister initiative to increase voter participation among Black women in Wisconsin. Other outreach efforts have focused on Black business owners, Black students and HBCUs.  The virtual bus tour will be one of most high-profile efforts of the campaign.One goal of the tour is to highlight the campaign's Build Back Better plan for economic recovery. The plan focuses on economic relief and job creation to address the impact of the current COVID-19 pandemic and economic downturn, and it seeks to redress systemic racism and racial inequities.The virtual bus tour will also promote voter education and recruit organizers for voting...

If you’re interested in sharing your opinion on any cultural, political or personal topic, create an account here and check out our how-to post to learn more.____Amidst the barrage of lawless conduct by our ”law and order” president and his allies, it is easy to forget that America faced a government ethics crisis long before Donald Trump took the oath of office. The outsized role of special interest money on our elections exacerbates systemic racism and economic inequality. While it is now obvious that many of President Trump’s corrupt actions threaten Black lives and livelihoods, recent events remind us of how the continued unchecked flow of money in politics harms our communities as well.When special interests and wealthy individuals funnel unlimited amounts of money into our political system, it dilutes our voice and undermines the hard fought battles for voting rights waged by our civil rights heroes. Those concerns remain even if those monied influence peddlers look like us. In 2017, two of President Trump’s highest profile Black surrogates, Pastor Darrell Scott and Kareem Lanier founded the Urban Revitalization Coalition (URC), a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization whose mission was “to create sustainable solutions to urban challenges.” When they applied for URC’s tax-exempt status, Scott and Lanier told the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) they planned “to develop programs in areas of housing, finance, education and training, strengthening families, criminal justice reform, community policy and healthcare.” Three years later, the organization has been plagued by scandal, lost its tax exempt status and effectively closed its doors. In recent months, Scott and Lanier have been accused of using their organization to promote Trump’s political agenda to Black voters and as a conduit for Turkey’s autocratic president, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, to influence our government.Creating solutions for “urban challenges” and addressing racial disparities in housing, healthcare and criminal justice are laudable goals. Unfortunately, URC did little of what it told the IRS it would for the “urban” community, and instead violated the law as a 501(c)(3) organization. In its application for tax-exempt status, URC indicated it would “not support or oppose candidates in political campaigns in any way,” engage in propaganda, or attempt to influence legislation. But in 2018, URC held voter registration drives aimed at increasing Trump’s share of the Black vote. That year, Scott and Lanier also became involved in a “foreign influence campaign … aimed at shaping U.S. policy in anticipation of an overarching trade deal with Turkey.” URC’s application also indicated that it would not provide “funds to individuals” or operate raffles, but in late 2019 launched a nationwide strategy of holding raffle events “in Black communities where they lavish praise on the president while handing out thousands of dollars in giveaways” (the infamous “Cash for Blacks” scheme). Meanwhile, President Trump has continued promoting URC’s founders as integral parts of his agenda and campaign.How did URC stray so far from its mission to address challenges facing the urban (read: Black and minority) community? Unsurprisingly, the key is to follow the money. As a 501(c)(3) non-profit, URC does not have to publicly disclose all of its donors, though it is required to provide the IRS with a tax return that would reveal information like its top donors and highest paid employees. URC does not appear to have made that information available. However, public records from a politically active group backing Trump’s reelection, America First Policies (AFP), indicate that in 2018, AFP donated $238,000 to URC. The U.S. Supreme Court’s 2010 decision in Citizens United opened the floodgates for special interests to inject unlimited cash in our elections with limited disclosure. The costly loopholes in our system become apparent when politically active non-profit groups like AFP donate funds to 501(c)(3) non-profit groups like URC that “are not supposed to engage in any political activities.”While recent public reports indicate know that URC’s founders used their organization to "solicit donations" from wealthy Turkish nationals and facilitated a “foreign influence campaign on behalf of powerful people in Turkey,” without URC’s tax returns, we still have no idea how much money, if any, it spent on boosting “urban” America. Of course, URC isn’t the only prominent example of monied interests using a Black vessel to serve their own political interests.Though I’ve spent the last few years trying to ignore Kanye West, recent events have forced me to break that promise to myself. As a non-partisan ethics watchdog, and a thinking Black person, I won’t discuss the merits of Kanye’s candidacy for president. But his ascendance as an apparent “spoiler” candidate for Black voters raises significant concerns about the influence of untraceable money on our elections. Many of the political operatives supporting Kanye’s candidacy have ties to politically active groups that hide their donors. For example, CNN reported that an Ohio-based political advocacy group that shares a “Republican-allied law firm” with West's campaign is sending misinformation on Democratic candidates to voters in key battleground states. While Kanye’s wife, Kim Kardashian West, asked for “compassion and empathy” regarding his mental health issues following his recent erratic outbursts, politically aligned organizations and consultants continue to cynically exploit Kanye for their own purposes.Money in politics is not a partisan issue. Unaccountable and unchecked money exists on all sides of the political spectrum. The unscrupulous actions of President Trump’s cronies at URC and those surreptitiously supporting Kanye’s “spoiler” effort are the latest examples of how the money drowning our political system exacerbates white supremacy. When these grifters are allowed to operate in secret, it ensures that our government works only for a select few, and certainly not for Black folks and allies fighting for systemic change. Every election is important for Black America, but curbing the flow of money in politics is essential to racial progress regardless of which candidates win in November.____Donald Sherman is the Deputy Director at Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in...

Outrage is again swirling around the U.S. Postal Service and Postmaster Louis DeJoy after officials in several states got hold of a misleading postcard being sent out by the government agency, according to Reuters.The U.S. Postal Service recently kickstarted a voter outreach effort that involved sending out postcards with information about how to vote by mail. To the dismay of states like Colorado, Washington, Oregon, Utah, Hawaii, California and others, the postcards containing false or misleading information about local rules around the voting procedure.“State and local elections officials have had to spend a significant amount of time correcting election misinformation and disinformation. This USPS postcard, without input from elections officials, does not help,” California’s secretary of state Alex Padilla told Reuters. A federal court in Colorado has ordered the U.S. Postal Service to stop sending the postcards out because of what U.S. Judge William Martinez called “false or misleading information” in them. Colorado's Secretary of State Jena Griswold, who took the issue to court, said in a statement to CBS8, “What these lawsuits are about is actually asking a judge to tell the postal service to not send this postcard, which contains misinformation on elections.”The postcards were sent out nationwide last week and say that voters must ask for mail-in ballots at least 15 days before the election. This is not true for multiple states, including Colorado, Washington, Oregon, Utah, Hawaii and California, which all send ballots to every registered voter automatically. Other -- but not all -- states have put in place special rules because of the COVID-19 pandemic that allow people to receive ballots without request. According to Reuters, state officials in Maryland and West Virginia said the postcard's information did not align with their state rules. U.S. Postal Service spokeswoman Martha Johnson defended the postcards, saying the government simply wanted to "provide guidance."“The intention of the mailer was to send a single set of recommendations that provided general guidance allowing voters who choose mail-in voting to do so successfully, regardless of where they live and where they vote,” Johnson said to Reuters.Local news outlets spoke to multiple people on Monday who said the mailers confused them because they conflicted with what state officials were saying.National City, California resident Ann Woods told CBS8 that even she was aware that the information on the postcards was not correct.“I was really confused by this because I think some of it actually isn't correct for California,” Woods said. Padilla spoke to CBS8 as well, telling the news outlet that they are now working with the U.S. Postal Service to try and limit the amount of confusion. “Given the inconsistencies between the guidance offered on the USPS postcard and California Elections law, I’m deeply concerned about the potential for voter confusion. Our office is in regular communication with USPS, and will be working with them to prevent further confusion of voters, but all options remain on the table,” Padilla said. Spokane County Auditor Vicky Dalton released a statement to local outlet KREM warning them about the false information on the post card.According to a press release from the state, two of the five recommendations on the postcards does not apply to Washington residents. “While elections officials throughout the county and state level appreciate the desire to help, this mailer was not vetted with us. Washington election officials and local USPS representatives were not aware of the mailer until the postcard began appearing in mailboxes on Friday, Sept. 11,” Dalton said. DeJoy has faced more than a month of harsh criticism for his cost-cutting actions that disrupted mail for weeks and raised concerns that he was intentionally disrupting the U.S. Postal Service ahead of the election in November. Head here to see how your state is handling mail-in...

If Maya Angelou's mantra "when someone shows you who they are, believe them the first time," were to apply to the sitting U.S. President, the Tuesday night town hall with President Donald Trump was less informative and moreso a reminder of the critical nature of the 2020 election. The President and The People: A 20/20 Special Event was moderated by host George Stephanopoulos in Philadelphia on Tuesday per ABC News. During the event, the President spent 90 minutes taking questions directly from ordinary Pennsylvanians from a range of political affiliations.Trump responded to a medley of issues, including the COVID-19 pandemic, economy, racial injustice and police reform. As the night wore on, many things became clear about Trump’s views and his approach to running the country.Here are five key takeaways from the town...

Actor Samuel L. Jackson, known for his iconic on-screen profanity, has offered to teach fans how to curse in multiple languages to encourage them to register to vote. In a tweet on Monday, Jackson promised to teach profanity-themed classes if at least 2,500 of his followers registered to vote ahead of the 2020...

A federal appeals court has sided with the Florida governor and secretary of state in their quest to deny formerly incarcerated people the right to vote unless their court fees are paid in full. The decision means hundreds of Florida citizens who were in prison for a felony charge and have outstanding legal fees will not be able to vote in November's election.The U.S. Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit ruled on Friday that the onerous court fee keeping thousands of formerly incarcerated people from voting is not a "poll tax," according to BuzzFeed News. The decision overruled a district court that issued a preliminary injunction against the 2018 Republican-supported law.NOW: The 11th Circuit has ruled en banc that Florida can require people with a past felony conviction to pay off all fines and fees before they can get their right to vote back even if they can't afford it https://t.co/WHG07U7zcf pic.twitter.com/Criur3C1CQ— Zoe Tillman (@ZoeTillman) September 11, 2020Florida voters backed a 2018 referendum that changed the state's constitution and allowed the state's more than 1.4 million formerly incarcerated people to regain the right to vote. But in May 2019, the Florida Senate approved Senate Bill 7066, a law that made the full payment of court fees necessary to restoring voting rights.These fees can sometimes amount to thousands of dollars, leaving more than 750,000 people in the state left out of the next election. The 6-4 decision was led by Chief Judge William Pryor, who on Thursday was named by President Donald Trump as someone on the shortlist for the next Supreme Court seat, Slate reported. Chief Judge William Pryor (who is on Trump’s Supreme Court shortlist) along with five Trump-appointed judges on the 11th Circuit just upheld a poll tax in Florida. https://t.co/x3nYuEfQcm— The Leadership Conference (@civilrightsorg) September 11, 2020Judge Jill Pryor wrote the dissenting opinion and said Florida lawmakers as well as other judges on the court tacitly admitted that the financial burden was impossible for most people to handle.“In short, the legislators knew — or deliberately shut their eyes to — both the extent of the financial obligations Florida courts impose and the fact that most people convicted of felonies in Florida genuinely cannot afford to pay these obligations,” Pryor wrote in the dissent opinion.So far, Florida officials said 85,000 people have tried to have their voting rights restored. Some of the people applying are the ones who filed the first lawsuit against the government over the law, BuzzFeed News reported. According to the news outlet, a person must pay all fines, restitution orders and court fees.  Lawyers with the Campaign Legal Center petitioned for two Trump appointees to the court to recuse themselves because of a legal conflict. The two judges, Judges Barbara Lagoa and Robert Luck, were appointed to the federal appeals court just weeks after hearing the same case while both were still on the Florida state court. The judges refused to recuse themselves and were the tipping votes in favor of upholding the law. NBA star LeBron James and other athletes have led an effort to raise money to pay all of the outstanding court fees for those in need of assistance through an organization called More Than a Vote, according to a release from Florida Rights Restoration Coalition. Most states do not allow formerly incarcerated people with prior felony charges to vote, denying large populations the right to participate in elections for the rest of their lives.Poll taxes were made illegal by the 24th Amendment of the Constitution but have been used for more than 100 years to keep Black populations from voting, according to the Constitution Center. For decades, outright violence, mysterious taxes and impossible tests were all deployed to varying degrees as ways to deny Black communities the right to vote in...

President Donald Trump learned what many Black children find out at an early age: you never, ever try to talk over a Black woman.The President's reality check moment came on Tuesday during The President and the People: A 20/20 Special Event on ABC During the event, Philadelphia professor Ellesia Blaque stepped up to express her concerns about healthcare and refused to be bullied by the commander-In-chief.   Journalist Phil Lewis captured the moment on Twitter. Trump just found you don’t interrupt an older Black woman when she’s speaking pic.twitter.com/T9IiMOGFcK— philip lewis (@Phil_Lewis_) September 16, 2020"Should preexisting questions, which Obamacare brought to fruition, be removed?" Blaque asked.While she still had more to say, the President jumped in and said "no."Blaque, who Business Insider reports is an assistant professor from Philadelphia, gracefully stood her ground."Please stop and let me finish my question sir," she said.The concerned citizen continued with her question while the President froze in his seat at the National Constitution Center in Philadelphia."Should that be removed within a 36 to 72-hour period?" the voter asked. Blaque pressed Trump by highlighting her own struggles with pre-existing conditions and the role Obamacare played in saving her life. She spoke about a disease which started in her skin when she was born, then eventually moved to her eyes, optic nerves and brain."When it hit my brain, I was automatically eligible for the rest of my life," she said. "I chose instead to get a bachelor's degree, a master's degree, a PhD and become a professor."The president jumped in and said "that's great."But Blaque didn't come for his praise."It is great, but I still have similar healthcare problems," she said. "With co-pays, I'm still paying almost $7,000 a year in addition to the copay."Without her medication, Blaque said she "would be dead." She grilled the President about what he is going to do protect people like her who work hard."It's not my fault that I was born with this disease," Blaque said. "It's not my fault that I'm a Black woman and in the medical community, I'm minimized and not taken seriously. I want to know what you're going to do about that." CNN's Don Lemon highlighted several other moments from the town hall in which Trump was confronted about various issues. One of the topics focused on the President's refusal to wear a mask during the pandemic."A lot of people don't want to wear a mask," Trump said during the town hall. "A lot of people think masks are not good."George Stephanopoulos, who moderated the town hall, said "who are those people?"The President used waiters as an example."I saw it the other day. They were serving me and they're playing with their masks," he said. "I'm not blaming them. I'm just saying what happened. They're playing with the mask. They're touching it and then they're touching the plate. That can't be...

Black conservative "pick me" Candace Owens and Los Angeles County Sheriff Alex Villanueva targeted NBA star LeBron James this week in a weird attempt to attach him to the shooting of two LA County Sheriff's Department (LASD) deputies.On Saturday, two deputies -- one male and the other female -- were ambushed by an unidentified gunman as they sat in a patrol car per a tweet from the department's headquarters. Owens, who is no stranger to making incredibly inane comments about her skinfolk, discussed the shooting on Twitter on Sunday.“Why does this happen? Because pea-brained celebrities that are idolized like @KingJames tell young black men that they are ‘literally being hunted,'" she wrote. "This is the natural result of such hyperbolic, dishonest rhetoric. The racist, anti-police, black lives matter LIE is to blame.”Why does this happen? Because pea-brained celebrities that are idolized like @KingJames tell young black men that they are “literally being hunted”. This is the natural result of such hyperbolic, dishonest rhetoric. The racist, anti-police, black lives matter LIE is to blame. https://t.co/9U4c1kJgMv— Candace Owens (@RealCandaceO) September 13, 2020The tweet was a seeming extension of a message from Villanueva which followed the shooting."Moments ago, 2 of our Sheriff Deputies were shot in Compton and were transported to a local hospital. They are both still fighting for their lives, so please keep them in your thoughts and prayers. We will update this thread with information as it becomes available."Owens' assertion and attachment of James’ nonexistent involvement in the LA shooting stemmed from a tweet James wrote regarding the racist shooting death of Ahmaud Arbery in Georgia this past May.“We’re literally hunted EVERYDAY/EVERYTIME we step foot outside the comfort of our homes! Can’t even go for a damn jog man! Like WTF man are you kidding me?!?!?!?!?!? No man fr ARE YOU KIDDING ME!!!!! I’m sorry Ahmaud (Rest In Paradise) and my prayers and blessings sent to the.....” the star athlete and social justice warrior wrote.We’re literally hunted EVERYDAY/EVERYTIME we step foot outside the comfort of our homes! Can’t even go for a damn jog man! Like WTF man are you kidding me?!?!?!?!?!? No man fr ARE YOU KIDDING ME!!!!! I’m sorry Ahmaud(Rest In Paradise) and my prayers and blessings sent to the..... pic.twitter.com/r1PNxs8Vgn— LeBron James (@KingJames) May 6, 2020And in an even weirder flex, Villanueva challenged James to double the $175,000 reward offered for information that leads the LASD to the shooter. In an exclusive interview with KABC radio, the sheriff told the John Phillips Show host, "This challenge is to LeBron James. I want you to match that and double that reward." "I know you care about law enforcement. You expressed a very interesting statement about your perspective on race relations and on officer-involved shootings and the impact that it has on the African-American community.”The sheriff’s attempt to gaslight James into giving money to the department may have bigger implications.  According to The LAist, Villanueva has previously come under fire for his statements regarding budget cuts to the force by the LA County Board of Supervisors. He suggested that the reductions would liken LA to “Mad Max.”While the two deputies’ shooting is tragic, Owens and Villanueva need to focus on minding the business that pays...

Incarcerated people in California who helped fight fires in the state will have a chance to clear their criminal records and pursue a career as a firefighter. According to NPR, California Governor Gavin Newsom signed a bill on Friday to extend the opportunity to incarcerated people, making it easier for them to get firefighting jobs after being released from prison. The bill, sponsored by Democratic Assemblywoman Eloise Reyes, will make prisoners eligible for an EMT certification, which is required to get hired at municipal firefighting departments. “I think that after seeing all these young men and women stand side by side with our other fire crews and knowing that they had no hope of entering that profession, I knew that it was wrong and that we needed to do something about it,” Reyes said.Although the state has used incarcerated people as firefighters for 80 years, the governor said the system needs to be reformed. "California's inmate firefighter program is decades-old and has long needed reform," Newsom said in a statement. "Inmates who have stood on the frontlines, battling historic fires should not be denied the right to later become a professional firefighter."CA’s inmate firefighter program is decades-old and has long needed reform.Inmates who have stood on the frontlines, battling historic fires should not be denied the right to later become a professional firefighter.Today, I signed #AB2147 that will fix that. pic.twitter.com/15GJ7Gijt7— Gavin Newsom (@GavinNewsom) September 11, 2020According to AB 2147, the bill excludes people convicted of violent crimes and sex offenses, who are ineligible to fight fires and barred from having their records cleared.Michael Gerbe, who was convicted of a robbery at 19 years old in 2011 and sentenced to 10 years, said he learned about the firefighting program during his fourth year in prison "and that changed everything," NPR reported.Gerbe said he completed the rigorous process to join the program and battled fires for $1.90 a day. The firefighter said he works for Cal Fire while he is now on parole, but he can't get far in his career without an EMT."Without the training I can't get certain jobs. I can't do what an EMT does. So it limits me and it would limit me for promotions," he told NPR. "If I'm up against three or four other guys and they all have EMTs, I'm not ever going to get the job."The California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation works with Cal Fire and the Los Angeles County Fire Department to lead the Conservation Camp Program, which employs about 200 incarcerated people every year to battle brush fires. Now, the aspiring firefighters could have an easier path to reach their goals after prison. "Rehabilitation without strategies to ensure the formerly incarcerated have a career is a pathway to recidivism," Reyes said in a statement. "We must get serious about providing pathways for those that show the determination to turn their lives around."California is currently seeing historic wildfires across the state, with more than 3 million acres burned so far, along with more than 6,000 structures destroyed and 20 people dead, NPR reported. Reyes, who represents San Bernardino County, east of Los Angeles, said help is especially needed in her district, where the El Dorado fire is raging. “We need more firefighters, and we need an opportunity for second chances,” she said, according to NBC News. “We need to reward rehabilitation.”According to ABC10, the state has been struggling to get assistance this year because the coronavirus allowed many prisoners to be released...