California drug court graduates seek work: "Employess in Waiting"

From the Riverside Press-Enterprise:

If society is to break the revolving door of crime and incarceration, former offenders need to be put to work.

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(Former drug-court judge Pat) Morris had walked the two-and-a-half block line of job applicants, shaking hands and offering words of encouragement -- the same kind of positive reinforcement he gave in his drug court to offenders for staying sober, getting jobs and pursuing education.

In fact, Morris said later, he recognized many from his drug court. Some had been sober for 10 years, and were dressed in their best attire, eager to put their best foot forward.

"Given the number who showed up, it's a stunning declaration of the need for second chances for these folks," Morris told me later in a telephone interview.

"They want to work," he said. . . .