Forty three states were waiving the rule about no SNAP for drug felons as of a couple of years ago and that’s been the trend.
You’re eligible for Supplemental Security Income under Social Security at 62 even if you’ve never worked. A felony conviction does not affect that except you can’t collect it while actually in prison.
Federal, state and local govts have numerous other programs and subsidies (below cost housing etc) for low income people that are not necessarily affected by a felony conviction. Sometimes public housing is limited, like in federal housing if you’re on a sex offender registry or your drug crime was in or ‘near’ public housing. Local housing authorities might decline applications if the conviction was in the last 5 or 10 yrs, etc.
Modern day Brooks’ would just have to shoot the bull about this with modern day Andy Dufresne’s at the chow hall, and research it in the library before it’s… Gone, Sealed off, brick-by-brick. We’ll have us a little book barbecue in the yard…
Yes, Canada has “pardons” which mean people with criminal convictions who have served their sentence and stayed clean afterwards for 5 years are eligible (except for a few cases like sex offenders) to have their record wiped. Once you receive a pardon, you can legally reply “no, I have no criminal conviction.” (In fact, most modern application forms say something like “do you have any criminal convictions for which you have not received a pardon”?)
But then Canadian inmates generally can vote from in prison. Everyone is eligible to apply for parole at a certain point in their sentence (max 20 years). Just some people will never be granted parole.
Supposedly in the late 70s in one of the southwestren states that had a law from the cowboy era that said something to the effect that if you were incarcerated longer than 18 months you got a new set of clothes a five dollar gold piece and a horse in “reasonable” conditions
Wiseass read this in the prison library before he was released …didn’t get any of the above sued the state and won
The cost of the gold and horse shocked enough people that the state had a special session to remove the statue
Just to clarify, only persons convicted of a single crime are eligible for a pardon and does not wipe out your criminal convictions records, they remain in the RCMP’s records but are not visible to municipal or provincial police services and will not show up on a normal police records check for employment. They will show up on a criminal records check for working with persons in the vulnerable sector, security clearance, etc… because these are run through the RCMP.
Also, if you are ever convicted of any other criminal charges the pardon is rescinded the original conviction is reinstated.
While you might qualify for other programs - like SNAP butonly if you work or volunteer - state-paid “Welfare” (TANF) would not be one of them in either Maine or New Hampshire. You need to either be pregnant or living with your minor child to qualify. After 40 years in jail it’s unlikely that the person in the OP would meet either requirement.
Not trying to start anything here, but Wesley Clark should have mentioned that. Not everyone is going to get various literary references. Besides, I think the OP was looking for a serious answer, not a literary reference.
There’s also the fact that such a catty answer has no place here, imo.
John Gotti’s brother Gene is getting out of federal prison this month. He did 29 years for drug convictions, he’s 71. His original sentence was 50 years. He is still married and has grandkids