Inmate firefighters are battling California’s deadliest fires

“The environment is coercive,” said Katherine Katcher, founder and executive director of California-based non-profit Root & Rebound, which helps formerly incarcerated individuals re-enter society. “People welcome any opportunity to get out earlier, to get back to their families, back to their lives and make money.”
Katcher’s non-profit, in partnership with 50 additional criminal justice reform organizations, spent the past year pushing for the passage of three bills in the California legislature. A weakened version of the bill prohibiting the Department of Consumer Affairs from denying or revoking licenses unless a criminal conviction is directly related to the job passed in September.
The third bill, specifically targeting the prohibitive EMT licensing system necessary to become a firefighter, was voted down in favor of collecting more data on the number of ex-offenders denied certification every year.
Despite the outcome, Katcher said advocates will continue fighting. “This isn’t a free pass, no one is advocating for a free-for-all,” she said. “We’re saying there should be a fair and accurate consideration of someone’s record and its relation to their ability to do the job.”
By: Mikayla Bean
MORE POSTS
Inmate rights, justice reforms mark major package of new laws
Newsom has mixed verdict on California criminal justice laws
Western fires outpace California effort to fill inmate crews

Sign Up
Join our mailing list.