California’s former inmates can become professional firefighters, finally

It’s long past time this happened, but progress is progress.

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This is good news. I’m guessing the decision was made out of desperation over the current situation, not out of any sense for the need for this kind of necessary prison reform?

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This is so much awesome!

@anon61221983 Thank dog Newsom is pragmatic, even if a bit late.

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It wasn’t just Newsom’s decision; the state legislature needed to get off their butts to put the bill forward in the first place, and the California legislature has not historically been especially supportive of the rights of convicts (this was where the nation’s first “Three Strikes” law was passed). I’m just glad Newsom had the good sense not to get in the way when they finally did the right thing here.

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I just think back to Schwarzenegger, Wilson and Deukmejian years and think that that bill wouldn’t have been signed. And I’m not sure that Brown would have pulled the trigger. That dude got more conservative the second time around.

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“If they risk their lives defending our property, we might consider granting some minimal rights to some of our slaves” is not a great triumph of justice.

Better than the status quo alternative? Sure. But that’s only because the status quo is monstrously evil.

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