Hey John, 

Second Chance Month is a nationwide effort to bring awareness to the collateral consequences of a criminal record. Every person has dignity and potential, but the collateral consequences of being justice-involved are often barriers to long-term success and stability.

Generation Progress, and many others in the criminal justice space, are working to undo the harms that the criminal legal system has on the nation, and also highlight and combat the disportionate harms the criminal legal system has on young people.

Just a few of our advocacy highlights and resources from this month thus far:

• We've worked in partnership with you to call on state lawmakers to shrink the system, recognizing that a record should NOT mean a lifetime of harm.
• We have had policy experts and justice advocates discuss the impact of collateral consequences.
• We've released a column that highlights four key facts about women in the criminal legal system.

This month allows an additional opportunity to examine impacts of collateral consequences for justice-involved people and work towards solutions that allow them to realize their full potential without the added barriers to success that collateral consequences hold.

We call on lawmakers to change the framework of state and federal laws and policies that can reduce the number of people who go into the criminal legal system and mitigate the harms of those already involved with the system.

Take action to guarantee that while April is a month of recognition of these harms, it is a year-round process to end the harms that the criminal legal system has on justice-involved people.

Hassen Bashir
Advocacy Associate 
Generation Progress