I also suspect it’s probably easier to integrate from a higher social status as criminal backgrounds are less rigorously searched. The assumption being that someone who got a ph.d from a reputable school likely doesn’t have a criminal past as well. normally, that’s a solid assumption.

I don’t have enough experience with white collar criminals to really have any insight into their situation. I’d imagine it would be a little easier for someone of Moore’s social status and connections to reintegrate.

There is a great conundrum in re-entry. Ex-offenders are told to act right but are so restricted in terms of educational support, job opportunities, geographic mobility, etc. that they often don’t really have much of an opportunity*. Yet another relatively unexamined after-effect of the war on drugs and the shocking growth in the prison population.

To make it even more shocking: a white ex-offender has better success getting job interviews/call-backs for entry level positions than an equally qualified non-offending black applicant (see Devah Pager’s excellent work on this). You can only guess how little success a black ex-offender has in that situation.

*moore, obviously, is not an example of this at all. But most ex-offenders aren’t moore.

I wonder if he even has a college degree?

He clearly has a ton of connections, all of whom were, I imagine, unaware of his criminal past.

I wouldn’t assume that. He worked for Jim Clyburn. Wouldn’t surprise me if Clyburn took a cut of the action.

He told me he was a visiting scholar at Yale, and he was interested in political and criminal sentencing reform. I wasn’t listening to a word. I could tell at a glance he had a different game to play. A game that would get me into more hot water than a uncooked plate of Chinese dumplings. Just how would this go down? I hadn’t figured that part out yet. But in time I would. They don’t call me Frank Uible, P.I., for nothing.”

where he is focusing on the elimination of unreasonable barriers to the reintegration of people to civil society upon returning from prison

This is a very real and very important problem. Of course, it helps those who would advocate for that cause not at all when something like this happens.

More here: http://www.ephblog.com/2009/11/09/leadership-in-the-black-community/

This is a shame on so many levels. The events Moore organized were truly fantastic for Williams. I have no idea what sort of prof he was, but there will definitely be a void on campus due to Moore’s imminent departure and almost-certain incarceration. I wonder if next week’s events will now be cancelled?

Looking for a silver lining: who better to bring diversity of experience and promote the virtues of “uncomfortable learning” on campus than a convicted felon / fraudster / escaped convict! (Hey, if Williams can’t laugh at itself …).