Joyce Douglass, a retired state parole agent, can recall many initial conversations with the parolees she supervised. She would tell them that they had to get a job and support their families, and pay their court fines and restitution.
“Then, I would have to have the discussion with them about how they had no driver’s license,” because of their criminal record, she said.
Not being able to drive was an enormous barrier to employment and to successfully re-entering society for people who had past convictions.
A year after retiring in 2015, Ms. Douglass, started meeting with her local legislator, state Rep. Rick Saccone, R-Elizabeth, in 2016 to ask for help in eliminating certain license suspensions for non-driving offenses.
