>> c-span2 providing love coverage of the u.s. senate floor proceedings and keep public policy events and every weekend booktv offering 15 years the only television network devoted to nonfiction books and authors. c-span2 created by the cable-tv industry and broad as a public service by your cable assembly provide a. watch us in hd, follow us on twitter. now live to london for british prime minister's question time. each week the house of commons is in session. we believe prime minister david

cameron taking questions from the house of commons live wednesday morning sun c-span2. we invite your participation on twitter. prior to question time members are finishing up other business and live to the floor of the british house of commons. >> colleagues in the department of transport how we finance the major package of infrastructure. >> questions for the prime minister? >> thank you, mr. speaker. i have meetings with ministerial colleagues and others and in addition to my duties in this house i have other meetings later today. jonathan edwards. >> the uk has 104 billionaires'. 2 billionaires', the top 50 in the world. and the top five in -- is the prime minister at all concerned?

and people getting rich. i can say the hon. gentleman what is worthwhile is the massive fall in unemployment. in terms of in whales today, unemployment has fallen by 5,000 in the last quarter followed by 25,000 since the last election meaning in wales there are 50,000 more people in work. in terms of making sure the richest in our country paid their taxes, we see the richest 1% paying a greater percentage of income tax than average they did under labor. what we are seeing is a broad base recovery and i want to make sure everyone can benefit and that is why we are cutting people's taxes and allowing people to keep the first 10,000 pounds of what they earn before they pay income taxes. >> mr. speaker at the end of

november, the director of the stagecoach company acquired my constituency for one pound. budget date this year, she was going to consultation with the future closing in an airport which is worth hundreds of jobs, major devotion field, search and rescue base. since then my hon. friend, last night, the company of connecticut which has airport interests put in a realistic offer to keep things open and develop something to negotiate. my right hon. friend engages in commercial operations but operating remains open, and how

it takes place. >> my hon. friend has been fighting hard with the hon. member about the future and recognized an important role in the local economy and employ local people. ultimately the future remains the responsibility of the airport owner but it is simple and the government is engage and i know my right hon. friend is engaged and he will be speaking about this issue and also contacting the potential purchasers, they have to make a commercial decision. [shouting] >> mr. speaker, i welcome unemployment. for all of those people who found work it is good for them and for their families and on the subject of high skill jobs

in the u.k. following the appearance of pfizer yesterday can the prime minister tell us what further assurances he is seeking about a takeover of astra's and point. >> i welcome the fact that he has welcomed the fall in unemployment. bees are the jobs that would never come to britain and never be there. what we see today is the largest ever quarterly increase of the number of people in work, 283,000. we see unemployment coming down, u.s. unemployment coming down, long-term unemployment coming down and long-term use unemployment coming down. now growing economy were long-term economic plan is working we see a number of vacancies going up. hon. members, is good to know in addition that three quarters of the new jobs over the last year have gone to uk nationals and

also that employment of romanians and bulgarians went down in the last three months of this year following the listing of controls which is notable. in terms of pfizer and astra's point, this government has been absolutely clear that the right thing to do is to get stuck in the best possible guarantee on british jobs, british investment and british science. we discussed this last week and one of the most important things we learned since last week is the right hon. gentleman was asked for a meeting with pfizer but he said he was too busy political campaigning. t quite literally put politics ahead of the national interests. >> i won't take any lectures from the guy who was negotiating, negotiating with pfizer over the board of astra's

an act that. pfizer picked off the prime minister. members on all sides of the house, the appearance of pfizer and the select committee raised more questions than it answered about a so-called assurances. the head of pfizer, research and development spending as a result of the takeover. has the prime minister got an assurance that these cuts will not take place in the u.k.. the strongest possible guarantee, what is the way of getting those guarantees? is it getting stuck in with pfizer and astra's zeneca with the british interests or standing back, doing nothing apart from playing politics? that is the point. i am clear what the british interest is, it is british jobs, british r&b and i will do everything to make those

guarantees the we received and he would have gotten nothing. as we do so let us remember this, 175,000 employed in life sciences at our country because we are an open economy that encourages investments. eli lilly, and no vargas, johnson and johnson have chosen to invest here because it is a great company to come and do business. >> the problem is his assurances are inappropriate. not my words but the words of the press and other royal society. his assurances i useless and there is no guarantee, now let's talk about jobs on jobs. the head of pfizer said yesterday, quote, there will be job cuts somewhere. assurance that these job cuts won't take place in the u.k.? we have assurances on the percentage of r and d that will happen here, investments in

cambridge. if he is arguing do we want further assurances, yes we do. do we want to make sure jobs a year? yes we do. do we want more investment in british universities? yes we do. the lead difference between us is how you get those things. i say get stuck in negotiate parts, he says stand up, play politics and put that before the national interest. >> mr. speaker, his negotiation is not working, so worthless on r&d, jobs. the possible carving up of merged company. nobody wants the company to be bought, split up and sold off. what assurances that this won't happen? what we want is an good british investment and british jobs but

we know what happens if you take the approach to the labor party. let us remember the recovery. rendezvous speeches about investment, complete and abject surrender. we learned a lesson of the mistakes labor made. and the the brain works they left this incidentally which is that the treasury and we won't get results for british jobs and investment by being engage rather than standing up and playing politics. >> we all know what happened last time we got assurances. he sold off royal mail, and the best man made a killing. can't give up a guarantee, can't give up a guarantee, and

confirmed putting up the company and slogging it off. last week the prime minister said he would adjust the takeover and british jobs, british investment and can't find assurances on any of those things. a proper test of public interest, and should block it. >> he raises this issue about the public interest. a way of asking which party, which government, and sitting in the treasury writing room, the hon. gentleman, that is what we see on a day unemployment is down. he will try any trek about what is happening in our economy. the country is getting stronger and he is getting weaker. >> you may not think it is

important to talk about companies, 2% of exports and 50,000 jobs, it is important, crucial for interests and the truth is he is not powerless. he is the prime minister. he could ask on not public interest, and nobody is convinced by his assurances. he is falling back on the old idea of the market always knows best. that doesn't need to rules for royal malic to astors and a. this is a prime minister whose ideology means he cannot stand up for the national interest. >> if these companies are important why didn't he meet with them? that is what he did. she quite literally put his own party political interests ahead of the national interest and what he fails to understand, he may get the british interest,

british investment, also measure it being a country that is open to overseas investment. there is a reason companies and countries are coming here to make cars, built airplanes, abrogates oil rigs, cut taxes, welcome investments, growing our economy, and we take no lectures from the people who brought this economy to their knees. >> the hon. gentleman is delighted to be greeted by this. steven gilbert. people are widely preparing to come forward for the holiday. when they arrive they will see the recent storm damage still hasn't been quite right. and we need help today.

>> i'm happy to go on discussing with the coronation district canceled to make sure we do everything we can to get back onto its feet after the storm. what i said very clearly, and all of the emergency funding can play back and it still has time to work on that claim. going through the environment agency to repair storm damage and an opportunity for caldwell to have a real benefit in that money as well. the sun is shining. i am sure people are preparing and when they get there they will have a good time. >> to this idea -- >> underspend that this makes the results higher standing and future deals, don't think he

balanced. >> i seem to remember coming to the government when we were left with a 38 billion pound black hole. the criticism is the secretary of state is careful with the pounds and pennies and make sure they understand on occasion to be carried forward into investment. >> even portland. >> and economically cover it, and employment figures -- join with me. and educational institutions and businesses of my constituency is when it starts in 200 in 2010.

>> over the last year, long-term economic plan is working coin. it is not just a statistic, and security and peace of mind. increasing the number of apprenticeships is a vital part of a long-term economic plan. 1.7 million apprentices under the government aiming for 2 billion, we need to do more to incur a small and medium-sized firms but the work is going well. >> 61% increase on the number of working families claiming housing benefits in the stocks, cleansed of creating generally lower-paid part-time and contracts. >> what i can tell him is in the north constituency unemployment has fallen by 23% over the past year.

if he looks at the unemployment figures he will see that the number of people in part-time work who want full-time work has fallen and increasingly to buy the part-time work they want. there is an increase in the number of people in work claiming housing the the number of increases in the number of people in work, that is what is happening, we're getting the country back to work. >> the prime minister will know thousands of my constituents, they will be concerned about yesterday's report which so serious failings in the care of frail older people in wales, the people of wales and my constituents deserve better. >> these are as i understand it very concerning reports that do need to be studied but the any chess in wales is not a good state. we have seen an 8% cut to the

budget in wales carried through by labor. last time and the targets in wales, in 2009. and the target was met with in 2010-8. we see problems in wales and the labor party's jabbing to each other on the front page. >> didn't do assurances. and an absolute assurance of takeover of masters and point would result in research and development in the u.k.. he gave an absolute assurance, and in the box that it could put lives at risk. how could any prime minister not immediately conclude the right thing to do in the national interest is to call this in. >> we are operating under the legal framework put in place by

the government that he was a member of. i actually think when he looks at the record of what was said yesterday he will find the quotes he gives are not actually accurate. >> does the prime minister agree the building of roads like the 501 link will create even more jobs and continued infrastructure investment like this is a key part of a long-term economic clash? >> i spent some time in his constituency stock on the a 5 and i know how much it needs remedial work. absolutely ease final for this part of our country. we are investing more in our railways than at any times since victorian times and more on our roads than anytime since the 1970s ended is absolutely key to the success of our long-term

economic plan. >> for what reason the prime minister won't command exporting very barlow? >> i couldn't have been clearer that i condemn all of these aggressive tax avoidance schemes and not more than just condemning them as this government has taken action, legislative action. >> order! order! let's have a respectful silence for mr. william cash. >> thank you, mr. speaker. my right hon. friend will know my international development gender equality act came into force last night. will he note that this will protect women and girls throughout the world and furthermore, that particularly

in places like nigeria and syria provides an opportunity to be able to do whatever we can to alleviate their tragedy. will he be good enough to have a word with the secretary of state for international development and do whatever we can to help those people who have been so severely afflicted? >> i am sure the whole house will join me in commending the hon. gentleman for his bill and his legislative achievement for this important measure on the statutes. this year britain is taking huge steps forward using the power of our budget. we met the pledge to change to end forever the scandals of forcing early marriage and female genital mutilation. we are in a strong position to drive change on this. you mention nigeria and i announce we offered nigeria further assistance in terms of surveillance aircraft and military seem to embed with nigerian army and the team to

work with the u.s. experts to analyze information on the girls's location. as i said last week this was an act of pure evil, the world is coming together not just to condemn it, to help the nigerians find these young girls. >> mr. speaker, 50,000 ambulances have been waiting for half an hour for emergency units up and down the country. what are you going to do about it? >> what we're doing is making sure this will.7 billion pounds extra that we're putting into the n h s unlike the cut in wales, and we can actually see 1.2 million more people attending accident an emergency and over this winter period we met our targets for accident emergency. i remember the last time the labor leader raised our hospitals in prime minister's

questions. it was back in november. hasn't had a word to say about this. he predicted with the crisis, he sat there day after day dying for it to happen. it didn't happen because we had a strong and ages with more doctors serving our country. >> thank you, mr. speaker. the prime minister is well aware of the wonderful work by the royal british legion with our great service men and women who were injured in conflict. i will be joining a team with the hon. members of basketball to raise awareness for this wonderful work and will prime minister wish us every success. >> i would wish my hon. friend and the hon. gentleman taking part in this, and with some

well. it plays a key part in our country in terms of standing up for veterans and their interests and making sure we raise money and serve them, work closely with them in government. it is an extraordinary facility in our country. i wish him well and hope the fund-raising goes well. >> when the prime minister goes to scotland can he explain to communities wide by 2019 what just -- not just any country in the u.k. but any country, perhaps that explains. >> what i will be explaining on my visit to scotland is how scotland is better off inside the united kingdom so we have all the negotiating power of the united kingdom around a table to get a good deal for scotland

where as an independent scotland would have to queue up behind other countries to get into the european union and specifically on agriculture because of the hard work of my right hon. friend, making sure they will be extra supportive of scottish farmers absolutely in line with the scottish government was asking for. >> according to the chamber of commerce will benefit from a total of 1.5 billion tons of new investments. we had two stations, two schools being refitted and a brand new -- hand to capture all that there has been an announcement, unemployment, 667 year-ago. and concerned that this continues. i would like to ask the prime minister what his strategy is,

it takes my advice to come up with something that is long-term. >> unemployment in what some over the last year has fallen by 30%, and what he says about these important investments in terms of the derailed link, and indeed rebuild and new schools. and not just about jobs or getting taxes as those are. it is about supporting business and small business in particular by building the infrastructure, because we face difficult long-term decisions, we put this extra investment in to roads and railways to build modern infrastructure for the 21st century. >> thank you. in 2011, being able to see

within 48 hours was not a priority. is this aggressive? >> they are saying something like 40 million more appointments since 2010. the patient survey always quoted by neighbor ministers when they bring government says 93% of people say that appointments are convenient but frankly i want more. as a father of three and children i know how hard it is to get timely appointments, that is why we are training 5,000 more gps that have been named gp for frail and elderly people and 1,000 g p centers that are now open 8:00 until 8:00 and weekends. what i do regret is the last labor government signed a contract with the g ps that said they didn't have to offer service out of hours or the weekend. the investment we are putting

into the nhl s, providing better services and wondering about the idea of a 48 hour target he might want to ask why labor scrapped one in wales. >> river valley caldera has recently approved its core strategy. will he reassure local councilors this will give them extra power to protect those areas within the ripple valley that are not already earmarked for development and will come and visit the valley and see for himself why it is consistently voted one of the best places to live in the united kingdom and local people want to keep it that way? >> i look forward to visiting my hon. friend's constituency and broader constituencies in lancaster as well. when local councils put in place their local plans they will have far greater ability to determine how much housing, what sort of

housing and where it goes. that is what we're trying to put in place, the more power and responsibility at has. >> jonathan reynolds. >> to claim housing benefits to make ends meet. extra 5 billion pounds for the parliament, does the prime minister consider that a success? >> most important thing we have done to housing benefits, when we came to office, 60, 70, 80,000 pounds. when you put that cap on housing benefits, what is the labor reaction to vote against it? when we said housing benefits shouldn't be paid in respect for savings to oppose it? and it is rich and high, something that is not going up.

it is unemployment and it is 31%. some are claiming housing benefits but because of this government's long-term economic plan more constituents are in the work and learning. >> defense funding for the hunger area in december was most welcome that many constituents are out of their homes and there is concern moving forward, 300 million needed over the next 25 years. will the prime minister meet with us so we can convince him which is so important economic recovery and a special case given its high risk of flooding. >> i had an experience, positive and good meetings of members of parliament on across party basis, and we work hard to make sure the investment which will bring not just jobs to that

factory, hand to meet with him. and to make -- protect people's homes and businesses. >> i welcome efforts to rescue schoolgirls in nigeria, the prime minister will agree the nigerian government hasn't lifted a finger to protect those who are attacked by iran and will he agree to support the people to introduce peace to the unhappy nation? >> i will say to the right hon. gentleman, has considerable knowledge of overseas affairs, i don't think his description of the nigerian government is entirely fair. they do face a very vicious terrorist organization in terms -- they are investing and training their armed forces in

counterterrorism. we are willing to do more work on that particularly if we can make sure proper processes are in place for dealing with human rights issues but we should help across a broad range of areas not just counterterrorism, surveillance and helping them find these people but working with the global fund promoted by the former prime minister, the right hon. member -- thank you very much. thank you very much. in terms of protecting more schools. >> my mother celebrated her 102 birthday. in the first world war, it is entirely right for the outbreak of that great war, we honor those who lost their lives. will the right hon. friend also

ensure we will remember all the horses that were lost as we picked it in that wonderful play all. >> my right hon. friend is absolutely right. not just that wonderful play and joey the horse came on my recent business trip to china. it is also the magnificent memorial, and appropriately, it was 2014 this year but also we commemorate, and the armistice and the beast department. >> there will be points of order that follow statements. >> your c-span2 we leave the british house of commons, you are watching prime minister's question time wednesdays at 7:00 eastern when parliament is in

session. sunday night at 9:00 eastern and pacific on c-span. click on series to view everything from the british house of commons in october of 1989 and we invite your comments about prime minister's questions via twitter using the hash tag p.m. q. >> un c-span2 today a discussion about preventing criminal recidivism. army sergeant carol white receive the honor for receiving actions in afghanistan followed by live senate coverage, work on a bill to extend tax breaks. senator marco rubio was at the national press club yesterday to talk about retirement savings. a statement made this week on climate change. >> earlier this week you rejected scientist assertions

that human activity is causing climate change and that actions taken to curtail such activity will destroy our economy. how would you propose that the country whether any dramatic shifts in climate and the impacts such shifts could have on quality of life? >> let me make the first point. headlines notwithstanding of course the climate is changing because the climate is always changing and that is measurable the you concede. there is climate change. the issue is not whether the climate is changing as it is always changing. the issues wethers legislative proposals that could do anything about it. what i have said and what i disagree with is the notion if we pass cap and trade for example this will stop this from happening when in fact half of the new emissions on the planet on coming from developing countries that half of that is coming from one country, china. that is not going to follow whatever laws we pass a lot better approach is i am all in favor of advances in technology and innovation that makes us cleaner and more efficient but in a way fat for a cost-benefit

analysis determines is also good for our economy and i don't think those things are necessarily incompatible but it must be part of the cost-benefit analysis. the other thing i would point out is i agree that we need to spend time and energy on mitigation as well because there are mitigation actions that need to be taking place whether it is how we store water in the west or how we prepare to harden and address storm occurrences in the southeast where i live where we build a very expensive structure near the coastline that are susceptible to natural weather occurrences and all sorts of weather events of this nature. i have no problem with mitigation and quite frankly i have no problem with advances in technology but i by no means an going to go out and tell people if we do these things they are proposing by changing these laws in a way we conduct our energy policy that would have any measurable impact on the weather because it is not accurate to say that. >> what information reports,

studies or otherwise are you relying on to inform and reach your conclusion that human activity is not to blame for climate change? >> again, headlines notwithstanding, i never disputed the climate is changing and i point out climate to some extent is always changing. is never static. that is now the question before me as a policymake a. the question before me as a policymakers of we ban all coal in the u.s. if we ban all carbon emissions in the united states, will that change of the dramatic changes in climate and dramatic weather impacts we are now reading about? anyone who says that we will is not being truthful? the truth of the matter is the united states is a country, it is not a planet. there are things we can do to become more efficient in our use of energy, things we can be to develop alternative sources of energy, there are things we can do to be better stewards of the energy resources we have bike natural oil and gas but for people to go out and say if you pass this bill but i am proposing this will somehow lead

us to have enough tornadoes and less hurricanes that is not an accurate statement and that is what i take issue with. >> lot of time you would say look, this is not -- the background you can attribute to a white house source or something. you can't do that with live cameras weekend said -- just giving is this now for background, this is not for publication. >> did you do that? breached on background from the podium at the white house? >> not able briefing. >> let me give you something on background so you know it is coming? >> the fatal mistake that i made and this is in the weeds for the audience but interesting to some of you is i did not put the restriction we had at the state department which is it was not available for live broadcast.

it was available for use for stories that you would produce because the briefing is not a news event. it is part of the way in which people gather information, put their stores together, test other sources, get information, put together a comprehensive report. >> i once -- 56 questions on what is universal health care? would that be 98%? what about 97%? what about 96-1/2%? >> vaguely familiar. >> 56 questions in one briefing. dave berry wrote a column, take out for a beer and answer a question about what does universal health coverage mean? >> the life of the white house press secretary, ups and downs of the dog and our changed over time at 5:00 eastern on sunday as part of american history tv on c-span3.

>> i was looking at the real-estate listings just for distraction and saw the top of the charts will be on our price range the most expensive house in connecticut was priced at $34 million but marked down to 25. it was a bargain, not a deal. it was a cozy parlor with 14,000 square feet, 52 acres and a river and are was curious who owned it. i imagined it might be the chairman of general elector perhaps. i looked in the town website and saw a nose in the zoning record that said this house has been unoccupied since this owner bought it in 1951. that didn't seem possible. so i went over the next day to see it and the caretaker asked me, i have not seen any clarks, this is mrs. clark's house, i

get paid by the lawyer every month, the lawyer in new york sends me a check, no one has ever lived here, there's no furniture in the house, i take care of it. it seemed more like a bird sanctuary and as i was leaving he said can i ask you a question? do you suppose she has been dead all these years? >> bill deadman is one of the authors you can watch on the gaithersburg book festival at 10:30 a.m. eastern. steve vogel on the critical months of the end war of 1812 and at 11:15, will help finance john ross on missing soldiers and world war i ace eddie ric n rickenbacker and dan balls on the 2012 election and an holmes on pop culture alive saturday booktv on c-span2. our book club selection is it calls you back by a gang member and community activist louis rodriguez. join other readers to discuss

the book on booktv.org. >> the national association of attorneys general helped to discuss recently what happened after leaving the criminal justice system and how to help them reintegrate into society. it begins with attorney-general john sutter's -- john suthers. this is an hour-and-a-half. >> this next panel is on the collateral consequences of criminal convictions and the impact of those collateral consequences on recidivism rates. collateral consequences as we know are the additional sanctions typically mandated by state statute that cash to criminal convictions that are not part of the direct consequences of the conviction but incarceration and probation. they are the further civil consequences triggered as a consequence of the conviction.

in general all states impose collateral consequences. they are including but not limited to loss or restriction of professional licenses, in eligibility for public funds including public welfare benefits, public housing and student loans, loss of voting rights, in eligibility for jury duty and the big one in colorado is loss of hunting privileges and deportation of immigrants. collateral consequences of always accompanied criminal convictions in the united states, their number and impact expanded dramatically during the 1980s and 1990s. collateral consequences have recently garnered increased attention in large part because the record number of individuals now accepting u.s. correctional facilities and returning to communities across the country. the collateral consequences that attach to convictions are perceived as frustrating reintegration for individuals

and communities. many maintain collateral consequences are a barrier to successful reentry for many offenders. many nations impose collateral consequences on individuals with criminal records, most such restrictions appear less severe than in the united states. for the most part courts have held the failure to advise the defendant of potential collateral consequences does not give rise to a claim of ineffective assistance of counsel. advisement of collateral consequences is not constitutionally required. only the collateral consequence of deportation has been made an exception to this general rule by the united states supreme court in pad the ever since commonwealth of kentucky. there is considerable discussion about legislative be reducing collateral consequences for providing opportunities for waivers or exemptions from then. hopefully that will set the stage for what i believe will be a very interesting discussion. three distinguished panelists

with us today. immediately to my left is esta bigler, director of cornell university's labor and employment law program. develops forms and conferences on credit plan devolving labor and employment law issues and teaches in ithaca and new york city. a graduate of cornell and georgetown university law center, esta bigler began as a field attorney with the nlrb and then move to waldman alliance where she represented unions in all phases of labor law and represented plaintiffs and southern litigation. returning to public service she was the deputy director and general counsel of new york city's bureau of labor services which enforced the equal employment opportunity requirements in city contracts thing. esta bigler is a member of the new york bar association, labor employment committee, american bar association's section of labour employment law and new york state bar association labor and employment law section.

she was 2006 recipient of the alice cloak and constant could award for a commitment to women's issues and improving the climate for women. thanks for joining us, appreciate it very much. scott burns was elected prosecutor in iron county, utah for 16 years before being selected by president george w. bush in 2002 to served as deputy drug czar at the white house. upon leaving the white house in 2009 mr. burns was selected as executive director of the national district attorneys association and after five years relinquish that position to return to his native utah to practice law. scott burns has received numerous awards and honors where he worked as a prosecutor, fears that the good of victims' rights and national spokesperson on behalf of america's 40,000 prosecutors. thanks for joining us. prior to his appointment as attorney-general, michael geraghty was a partner in the

anchorage law firm, michael geraghty began working at the firm in 1979 with a practice devoted to litigation and appeals before state and federal courts. he appears as lead counsel on select criminal law matters as well as proceedings before osha, the commission on human rights and u.s. land commission. born and raised in fairbanks michael geraghty's private practice focused on industries reflecting alaska's growth and history including natural resources, oil and gas and instruction. he has been involved in numerous conflict cases including class-action this and antitrust laws in 2005 appointed by the governor as uniform law commission to the conference of commissioners on uniform state law. in 2007 he was honored by his peers when he received the alaska bar association board of governors professionalism award in recognition of exemplary conduct in association with his

colleagues and legal community. in 2011 michael geraghty was elected to the american bar foundation in recognition of outstanding dedication to the welfare of the community, the position of the profession and advancement of the objectives of the american bar association. michael geraghty received an undergraduate degree in political science from the university of hawaii and graduated with j.d. from the university of santa clara. michael geraghty and his wife lived in anchorage for 30 years and have five children. we are going to have the same format we did in the last panel. then for 15 minutes, pose some questions and open up to the audience for questions. esta bigler, you want to begin? >> i will begin. good morning, everyone. i can't tell you how thrilled i am to be here but i feel little

bit like diana duck out of water. as the only employment lawyer on the panel went perhaps the only labor employment lawyer in the room is a little intimidating. i grew up in new york city and i take the subway all by myself at night. but i have been the victim of being mugged twice and having my house broken into twice. i live in portland and i am always very worried when my sons are out late at night. i come to this subject having been a traditional labour employment lawyer but when i moved over to cornell one of the things that came of interest to me was the use of social science research in labor and employment law. and how the two come together. how do lawyers use social

science research and how industrial, organizational psychologists use what they see happening in the legal profession for the research they do. this is where i come from. when we talk about collateral consequences and recidivism the first thing i think of is of high draw. this adds so many pieces to the puzzle. we have race discrimination and fear and negligent hiring, drug addiction, my favorite topic, employment, crime, public safety. i look at all this through the lens as an employment lawyer. in employment what we want to know is criminal records are being used as a selection of vice. does this selection device, is it job-related? is it related to the job to be done? can the employer show business necessity? those are the hallmarks of how i

think about this issue. when i think about criminal records, and i read extensively, i have done many conferences and talked to many sciences who studied the issue it appears we begin to think about someone with a criminal record as all the same, as if the crimes are not different, it is the record and a record only that we think about. people refrain from engaging in criminal activity as many different reasons as people get into it perhaps. what we do know is that nearly two thirds of people released from prison serve non property, non-violent offenses including drugs, 37%, property, 25%. some people have been cleaned 10, 20, 30 years and somehow we act when we look at collateral consequences as how long they have been cleaned is irrelevant but their debt to society has never paid.

for ever rule is in place. i came here to argue a forever rule is not always appropriate. i would like to put a face on this for you if you will give me a few minutes and i bring up the case of darrell quintin. this was told in the howard law review in 2011. he in 2010 had just been turned down for a job as a boiler room engineer in the chicago public school. under as state law, anyone who had a drug conviction could not work in the public school system. he had been convicted in 1985 of a drug conviction, possession of cocaine, a relatively minor amount of cocaine and he had got a court order relieving him of his employment bar but the chicago public school system refused to hire him. in '85 he was caught with a half gram of cocaine and sentenced to six months probation. what was interesting about this was he worked for the chicago

public school system at the time, didn't lose his job and in 1988 they sent him to employee assistance program. it was a turning point in his life. he became responsible family man, respected member of the community and continued to work for the chicago public school system until 1995 when there was restructuring in the system a key as well as many others were laid off. for the next 15 years you worked in his own mortgage business doing real estate until the real-estate turned out. and then he decided he obviously needed another job, he got a job in a hospital working as a building engineer but wanting to make more money and wanting benefits the chicago public school system, applied for the job. and two sons as a single parent and he had no further problems with the law. he was interviewed three times, was honest on his application

about his conviction, they tested him for the skills of being an engineer and just as he was about to be hired he is told he was ineligible for employment. as a provision in the illinois school code prohibiting people convicted of crimes including felony, drug convictions. it is the langdons of the world i will tell you i am very concerned about. we do know that race plays a role here. the eeoc when it issued his guidelines on criminal hiring in 2012 and if you all know the statistics i apologize about one in 17 white men are expected to serve time in prison during their lifetime. one in 6 hispanic men and one in 3 african-american men. african-americans and hispanics at rates, in the population.

in 2010 black men had an improvement rate that was nearly seven times tires and white men and almost three times higher than hispanic men. we have a large population that has a criminal record, we have a population that needs to be served. in my colleagues's and my view employment is one of the most important places where someone can gain confidence. and in 2003, there was a study in which she wanted to look at how employers look at hiring someone with a criminal record. and anybody is interested in false applying for jobs. and anybody well-trained, presented themselves the same

way, and the criminal record, there were white teens, hispanic teens and black jeans. what she discovered was a criminal record herd's every one. 34% of white plaster applied to entry-level jobs, received callbacks, and a criminal record, a 50% drop, and employers called back to white applicants with a criminal record, three times more over a black person with a criminal record. significantly whites called back more often with african-americans with no criminal record. it is hard to get a job out there. certainly if you have a criminal

record. pew study indicated between 43% and 45%, almost half returned to prison in the first three years. often technical violations of parole rather than new crimes so if people don't go back what can we do to encourage and increase their employment. people age out of crime. we do no research shows there is a decrease of risk for arrests over time depending on the types of crime whether it be property, drugs or violence. after a while you get too old to do many of the things that are involved in crime. i have those statistics if anybody is interested. 1.5 million people reside in american prisons and 700,000 are released each year. we talked earlier today about the surge in prison population since 1970, the era of mass incarceration and the war on drugs. over 7 million people are part

of an overall correctional population that includes people who are on probation and parole. one in four adults has a criminal record. we now spend as our country over $70 billion on incarceration. housing, feeding, guarding people who are really not contributing to our economy. a very recent study of 40 states found that the average yearly cost of incarcerating one person is $31,000. i will tell you it is a lot more in new york state. i suggest if we could reduce the prison population by 1%, 14,000 people, the results to the states would be a saving of $430 million and i didn't believe the number so i checked the math just to make sure. i and my colleagues believe reintegration into communities is facilitated by employment.

people need to have intact families as much as possible. children need to be living with their parents and employment plays an important role. one study shows 89% of the people who violate probation or parole are unemployed at the time. another study showed 58% of reduction in recidivism after someone was employed for 30 days. there is a recent study that was done on a program in new york city that has a comprehensive employment program. they take people out of prison, get jobs and also gives a significant amount, individual work with them. and improve the prospects. there was a study done, one group got the job, and assets to jobs and given access to

community help but not the same kind of work the first group was given. the first group came to the program after being out turned out to be that was a very important issue. what they found was after one year there was actually no difference, no difference which was fascinating in earnings and employment between the two. what they did find was a significant decrease in recidivism. people have been enrolled in having a job and having extra services given to them the recidivism rate for them went down between 16, and 20%. a huge chunk, i would say. let me move to another issue involving employment and that is background checks. only one minute? background checks. we know background checks become a standard part of when employers use when they hire people.

.. what we discovered looking at the likelihood of being sued, the likelihood that, records were involved in those lawsuits, let me finish this piece, we found only 168 reported cases. we used lexus of verdicts and settlements for this. of that we have found 78 cases with the plaintiff, or the was a settlement. fr