The felony free society

Join the movement, "B felony free"
BFelonyfree.com (coming soon)
'Take a stand, take the oath'

Transitional Training Services is proud to announce the formation of The Felony Free Society. A volunteer community outreach group consisting of highly motivated people dedicated to educating at-risk individuals about the devastating affects of incurring a felony conviction. Whether by design or by chance the felony conviction epidemic is crippling the black community. Not only does a conviction impose prison time, it destroys families and effectively strips the individual of some the most basic freedoms and privileges. In the worst case scenario, the convicted is written off by society. TFFS believes that there should be a consistent effort to bring awareness, education, preventative programs and economic empowerment to those affected by the convictions. By doing so, communities would reduce crime and recidivism rates, produce higher number of entrants into higher educational institution, and improve their economic and political conditions. We are dedicated to assisting ex-offenders as well as those who may be suffering from drug and alcohol addiction but trying to make the transition back into society successfully. Get involved!!! Help our communities recover ask about The Felony Free Society.

A Felony By Definition

In some states of the U.S., little differentiation is made between felonies and misdemeanors. Any punishment for a particular crime is prescribed by a statute, and the word felony could be used, if at all, in a loose and indefinite sense. In general, crimes that are punishable by death or by imprisonment in a state prison or penitentiary, with or without hard labor are felonies. No crime is a felony unless made so by a statute, or unless it was already deemed a felony under a common law.

Collateral Consequences

Increasingly, laws and policies are being enacted to restrict persons with a felony conviction (particularly convictions for drug offenses) from employment, receipt of welfare benefits, and access to public housing, and eligibility for student loans for higher education. Such collateral penalties place substantial barriers to an individual's social and economic advancement.

Felony Disenfranchisement

Nationally, an estimated 5.3 million Americans are denied the right to vote because of laws that prohibit voting by people with felony convictions. This fundamental rule that excludes one from participating in the democratic process exacerbates the racial disparities in the criminal justice system, resulting in an estimated 13% of Black men being unable to vote.

More than 60% of the people in prison are considered racial or ethnic minorities. For Black males in their twenties, 1 in every 8 is in prison or jail on any given day. These trends have been intensified by the disproportionate impact of the "war on drugs," in which three-fourths of all persons in prison for drug offenses are people of color. Changes in sentencing law and policy, not increases in crime rates, explain most of the six-fold increase in the national prison population. These changes have significantly impacted racial disparities in sentencing, as well as increased the use of the “one size fits all" mandatory minimum sentences that allow little consideration for individual characteristics.

Society Outreach Activities

  1. Community clean up
  2. Community luncheon
  3. Community car wash
  4. Society Walk for felony awareness
  5. WIA Outreach Initiative
  6. Project Educate (H.S. initiative) (partner with local police dept)
  7. Enrichment Activities (Guess speakers, workshops, seminars)

Contact: Dalton T Brown, Executive Director

'Take a stand, take the oath, be felony free'