No More “Felons”?

Writing in an oped in the Washington Post, a Justice Department official has laid out a policy whereby her agency will no longer use words like “felon” or “convict” to refer to prisoners who have been released. The official, Assistant Attorney General Karol Mason, heads the Office of Justice Programs and her declaration applies only to that sub-agency. However, it’s clearly in synch with what’s become a broad movement that has taken the form of “ban-the-box” legislation, as well as calls for sentencing reform among politicians both left and right. As a New York Times editorial notes, Attorney General Loretta Lynch recently gave a speech in which she pointedly avoided using the words “felon,” “ex-convict,” or “ex-offender,” and also said she had specifically requested state governors to allow “citizens returning from federal prisons to exchange their federal Bureau of Prisons inmate ID card — and their authenticated release documentation — for a state-issued ID.” The Times calls attention to her use of the word “citizens,” calling it “strikingly humanizing.”