By: Jared McClain and Daryl James
People can change, which is why they make resolutions for the new year. But federal regulators tried to deny a fresh start for Altimont Mark Wilks when he left prison in 2018.
Wilks noticed a need for food retailers near his home in Hagerstown, Maryland, so he pooled his family’s resources and opened a small market. He named the business Carmen’s Corner Store after his mother, who helped him turn his life around following his guilty plea on weapons and drug charges in 2004.
As part of the startup process, Wilks applied at the Department of Agriculture to join the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program as a retail partner. This is when Wilks discovered a new penalty for his old conviction: a lifetime ban on SNAP participation for any store owner with a record of drug, alcohol, or firearms offenses.
Regulators did not care that Wilks had paid his debt to society. Nor did they care that he was living clean, paying taxes, and contributing to his community. No matter what he did to demonstrate rehabilitation, it would never be enough.
Working with formerly incarcerated retailers is just too risky, the regulators said. So they punished Wilks for who he was 20 years ago, not who he is today. They also punished his customers who rely on SNAP for grocers — about 20% of the neighborhood.
The discrimination continued in 2022 when Wilks opened Carmen’s Corner Store at a second location 25 miles southeast in Frederick, Maryland. But this time, when the authorities denied his SNAP application, he fought back in court and secured a settlement on Dec. 15, 2023. Our public interest law firm, the Institute for Justice, represents him.
Under the terms of the deal, arbitrary SNAP restrictions on formerly incarcerated retailers will end. Wilks can join the program as a partner, which means he finally can have a chance for a fresh start in 2024.
Other returning citizens will have to wait. Collateral consequences, which include any add-on penalty not imposed by a judge or jury, remain common in the United States. People who have completed criminal sentences face restrictions on adoptions, subsidized housing, international travel, and voting.
Occupational licensing boards also impose restrictions. For example, Courtney Haveman, a Pennsylvania resident, never spent time in prison. Yet state regulators tried to stop her from earning an honest living as a skin care specialist due to two misdemeanor convictions in her youth.
The case against Ifrah Yassin in Minnesota is even more shocking. Officers briefly arrested her on suspicion of robbery in 2013, but prosecutors never charged her. Despite her innocence, Minnesota regulators tried to stop her from working in a group home for adults with intellectual disabilities when she sought employment in the summer of 2023 — 10 years after the incident.
Many qualified professionals face unreasonable barriers. Virginia regulators tried to stop Rudy Carey from working as an addiction recovery counselor. Florida regulators tried to stop Jaime Rojas from working as an ocean lifeguard. And the Federal Communications Commission tried to stop Joe Armstrong from operating a radio station in Tennessee.
All of these workers have criminal records. But they also have more recent records as model citizens, proving that people can change. Regulators eventually conceded this point, allowing Haverman, Yassin, Carey, Rojas, and Armstrong to work. But regulators in other states refuse to let go of past mistakes.
Another example: Dario Gurrola trained as a firefighter and assisted hotshot crews while incarcerated in California. But when he finished his sentence and rejoined society, the state blocked him from obtaining an emergency medical technician license, a prerequisite for full-time employment as a firefighter. The reason? His criminal record.
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“Barred from Working,” a nationwide analysis of occupational licensing laws, finds widespread challenges for returning citizens. Five states can disqualify applicants based on any felony, including offenses unrelated to the license sought. Thirteen states can deny licenses without considering evidence of rehabilitation. And 30 states can deny licenses based on arrests with no conviction.
Regulators must resolve to stop the harassment of returning citizens in 2024. If people such as Wilks can change, so can the restrictions that hold them back.
Jared McClain is an attorney and Daryl James is a writer at the Institute for Justice in Arlington, Virginia.