Amending the Rehabilitation of Offenders Bill to allow for individuals to have the stigma of their criminal records removed after fewer years is a controversial move for a government facing a crime wave. However, it is not without merit as a crime-reduction measure in itself.
As Minister of State for National Security Keith Bell stated in the Senate, all too often those who have served their sentences are incentivized to commit further crimes by the discovery that their records will bar them from gainful employment in the eyes of many. This is particularly problematic when those affected are youths. In some cases, a youthful indiscretion may cause them to be all but condemned to seek income outside the legal avenues for the rest of their lives.
Exempting the possible removal of criminal records for crimes such as murder, rape and armed robbery, the bill proposes to "give special attention" to young offenders; those under 21. The removal of their criminal records will only come, said Bell, after an application made by the former prisoner to a committee is approved and a recommendation made by that committee to the minister is approved. Applications can only be made two years after the completion of a prisoner's sentence. This is all well and good, but yet not enough.
Bell himself raises the specter of what is really behind the demise of the productive lives of so many of our young men - an "anomaly" that has exacerbated the rate at which people have been convicted of crimes far more serious than their actions warrant.
Under the Dangerous Drugs Act, if narcotics are "individually wrapped in two or more packages the person is charged with possession with intent to supply and can face years in prison". The assumption is that the possession of more than one packet of drugs suggests intent to sell to others, no matter the overall quantity contained.
"Thousands" of people have found themselves in jail and facing the stigma of having a criminal record in The Bahamas in this way, Bell added.
Bell suggested treatment for addiction, rather than being treated as a drug dealer, may be the more appropriate response. He could also have pointed out that in the United States and many other countries today, including Jamaica, initiatives have been undertaken to decriminalize or regulate marijuana altogether. Such steps bring tax revenue into the government's coffers and reduce expenditure on the incarceration of often otherwise upstanding individuals.
Our government has made a semi-step towards rationality by offering to remove the criminal records of such individuals earlier than they might otherwise have been. The problematic legal "anomaly" itself, which has sent "thousands" of young people in particular to serve custodial sentences, seems set to remain. Far from being "soft on crime", rehabilitating and reintegrating offenders, including by offering them the chance to see their records removed, could be a major win in the fight against crime.
Going forward, the government ought to look more closely at how this legal anomaly has impacted the lives of so many young people and use its power to quickly fix the law.
Click here to read more at The Nassau Guardian
