Dear John,

We are excited to announce that last week, ARC Member James Morgan Jr., was among six formerly incarcerated individuals at a virtual roundtable with Domestic Policy Advisor Susan Rice, White House Counsel Dana Remus, & Senior Advisor to the President & Director of the Office of Public Engagement Cedric Richmond.

The White House is committed to increasing outreach to formerly incarcerated veterans, expanding health care and housing access, developing and amplifying educational opportunities, and supporting job seekers and employers. As part of these efforts, they are engaging in conversations with formerly incarcerated individuals and we are proud that James is one of the ones that partook in this discussion.

The roundtable highlighted President Biden’s announcements granting his first wave of 75 sentence commutations and three full pardons, and the Administration’s major actions to expand second chance opportunities and improve reentry outcomes for Americans who have come home. You can watch the roundtable at the link here.
 

"I had earned suitability for early release at my parole hearing...AB1308 and those champions who believe that adolescents in their mid-20s also deserved a juvenile hearing. They helped me to get to transitional housing." -James Morgan Jr.
 

James served as a combat engineer (12 Bravo) for the US Army in Kuwait during Operation Desert Storm, and was incarcerated for over 20 years. He states that when he came home, the number one resource he had as a formerly incarcerated Veteran was ARC! He graduated from ARC’s Pre-Apprenticeship Cohort 12 and has been with Local 300 Laborers since September.

We thank our partners the Los Angeles/Orange Counties Building and Construction Trades Council, the LA Apprenticeship Fund, Laborers Local 300, and the US Department of Labor for their support of James and all people coming home and obtaining family-sustaining union careers!

These announcements and this feature from James was an excellent way to end Second Chance Month, and we look forward to continued reforms in the months to come.

Sincerely,
Sam Lewis
Executive Director, ARC