Dear John,

This week, we secured a win for second chances in Virginia when a federal district court judge ruled in favor of our client, Melissa Brown, and against Virginia’s harsh barrier law. 

Melissa is a substance abuse counselor in Virginia. She is particularly well positioned to help others because of her own past struggles with addiction and run-ins with the law. Everyone recognizes that people who have overcome addiction themselves often make the most effective counselors. But Virginia permanently bans Melissa and others like her from helping people overcome addiction. 

After Melissa went to prison for stealing a purse in 2001 to fund her habit, she vowed to turn her life around. She tutored other inmates to help them obtain GEDs while she began her own college-level studies in psychology. 

After completing her sentence, Melissa received her bachelor’s degree in psychology, completed hundreds of hours of coursework in addiction recovery, completed 2,000 hours of supervised practice, and went on to work for several years as a substance abuse counselor at a Virginia treatment facility.  

Melissa excelled in her profession and became supervisor of the center’s other counselors. But she and her employer didn’t realize her career was actually illegal. When new management took over and looked more closely at Virginia’s barrier law, they confirmed that Melissa was banned from counseling because of her then-16-year-old (nonviolent) robbery conviction.  

Despite her hard work, Melissa was told she could no longer counsel patients. 

“This decision is more than personal,” Melissa said. “It’s a victory for everyone who believes in second chances.”

Unfortunately, Virginia law prohibits anyone who has committed one of 176 “barrier crimes” from being employed in a “direct care” role—no matter how much time has passed since the crime was committed or how much the person has changed. It’s a lifetime ban.  

In 2016, the Virginia Department of Health declared opioid addiction a public health emergency. Yet two years later, Melissa was forced out of her substance abuse counseling job by the barrier law. The judge even made note of this in her ruling this week: “The barrier law exacerbates the difficulty of hiring qualified direct care providers for those suffering from addition, despite there being a great need for such hires.” 

This isn’t the first time IJ has taken on this barrier law. You may recall IJ client Rudy Carey, who had a troubled past with substance abuse but turned his life around. He too worked for years as a substance abuse counselor before being told he couldn’t continue his career because of a single assault conviction from 2004. But before the courts could make a final ruling in Rudy’s case, he received a pardon from the governor of Virginia. That was a victory for Rudy, but we were determined to find another opportunity to challenge the barrier law so that everyone could benefit.  

The court decision will allow Melissa to continue counseling after passing an individualized screening assessment, which is all she was asking: Judge me for who I am today rather than place an irrational lifetime ban on my work. 

Despite one in three Americans having a criminal record of some sort, thousands of laws nationwide make it harder for people with criminal histories, like Melissa, to find meaningful employment.  

People change, and when they do, they deserve a fresh start in pursuing the occupation of their choice.  

Scott

Scott G. Bullock
President and Chief Counsel
Institute for Justice