With fire season raging through California again, firefighters and first responders across the state have begun focusing their attention to controlling the fires that burn up and down the state. To aid in this battle, the state allows people currently in prison to be trained and work as firefighters on the front lines. This year, inmate firefighters who partake in the Conservation Camp Program operated by the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR) are getting an opportunity to turn this rehabilitation program into a chance to pursue firefighting as a career after completing their sentence, thanks to a new law signed by California Governor Gavin Newsom early September.
Last year, The Lion’s Roar reported on the conditions these inmate firefighters worked through, explaining how these individuals were unable to use their experience from the CDCR fire camps and the experience they had combating historic California fires on their applications to receive their EMT license, taking away their chances at obtaining a firefighting job after completing their sentence. The bill in comment, AB 2147, is a historic pivot in the fight to create essential rehabilitation and integration opportunities for individuals coming out of low-level offense charges and sentences.
Assembly Bill 2147 is authored by Assembly member Eloise Gomez Reyes, a Democrat representing the 47th Assembly District. This bill allows nonviolent offenders who fought fires as members of CDCR fire camps to have their records expunged, paving the way for individuals leaving fire camps to seek meaningful employment and further training to become
licensed firefighters. "Signing AB 2147 into law is about giving second chances. To correct is to right a wrong; to rehabilitate is to restore… Rehabilitation without strategies to ensure the formerly incarcerated have a career is a pathway to recidivism. We must get serious about providing pathways for those that show the determination to turn their lives around." said Assembly member Reyes in a statement discussing the reasoning behind creating AB 2147. California law had previously compelled emergency service agencies to deny certification to individuals who were convicted of two or more felonies, on parole, or who had committed a felony within the last decade. Despite their experience and qualifications, many formerly incarcerated individuals struggle to obtain licenses and employment due to their criminal records. Now with AB 2147, a formerly incarcerated individual can file a petition in a county court to expunge their record and waive parole time, opening up the opportunity to create a career in emergency and first response positions.
Many see this law as a step forward in the fight to create more opportunities for formerly incarcerated individuals to ease back into society, and give them the opportunity to rehabilitate. AB 2147 is thought to become a model of legislation across California, and possibly other states to create more of this legislation for formerly incarcerated individuals across the state and country.
Cover photo courtesy of Inland Valley Daily Bulletin.
About the writer:
Valeria Leon is the 2020-2021 Co-Editor for The Lion's Roar. You can learn more information about her by clicking here.
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