Chattanooga Opens “Restore My Rights” Webpage

CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. (WDEF)- If you have a criminal record, sometimes it’s “One strike and you’re out.”.

Chattanooga leaders are not sure how many people will qualify, but the city has started a website that shows those who were once convicted of a crime, how to get back in the mainstream.

In Tennessee, 97% of offenders currently in prison will return home some day, but within three years, 46% will be arrested and returned to prison.

The city of Chattanooga wants to find out if giving those people a fresh start, and opportunities to work, might change that.

Mayor Andy Berke stated, “There are people who’ve made a mistake in their lives, and they have done their time..and they have come home and want to be full participants in our society.”

The way to begin that process, according to the mayor in the “restore my rights” program. The city has set-up a website to get that word out to those who can qualify.

“All of us in this room know and recognize that the limitations placed on employment, and on a person’s voting rights due to having a criminal history negatively impacts the strength and well being not only of those particular individuals but also to their families and to the community as a whole,” says Chantelle Roberson who is a local Chattanooga attorney.

The website Chantelle Roberson helped build will walk people through the process of getting back into the mainstream. Right now, Most can’t get a better job..or one at all, with a criminal record. It especially impacts women.

“We can’t save them all. And every one of them is not going to be successful but I believe with encouragement, help, jobs, we’re going to see women acclimating back into society. They’re going to raise their children to dream and believe they can be somebody,” says the Mayor’s Council for women, Brenda Freeman Short.

But there is one major hurdle the city is trying to work out—the applicant will need to come up with some money.

 “In Tennessee today, even if you meet all the criteria for having your record expunged, you still need 450-dollars to do so, that’s a payment you have to make to the clerk’s office..and many people just don’t have it,” says Mayor Berke.

Agencies like the Urban League are working with the city to help. The program is just getting underway.

LINK: “RestoreMyRights.Com”.