The Next 250 Must Include Fair Chances

By Daniel Howe (Leading with Conviction™ 2020)

As the United States approaches its 250th anniversary, Americans will gather to celebrate the ideals this country was founded upon: liberty, opportunity, independence, and justice for all. We will hear speeches about freedom and resilience. We will honor the belief that America is a place where people can rebuild, reinvent themselves, and pursue a better future.

But for millions of Americans with criminal records, that promise of a fair chance often ends the moment they return home.

We say people should pay their debt to society. Yet even after that debt has been paid, many continue serving a life sentence of closed doors. A background check can deny someone housing. A past conviction can eliminate employment opportunities before a conversation even begins. For many returning citizens, the punishment does not end at release. It simply changes form.

As America reflects on the first 250 years of its history, we must ask ourselves an important question: What does freedom actually mean if people are permanently locked out of stability, opportunity, and belonging?

What does freedom actually mean if people are permanently locked out of stability, opportunity, and belonging?

This question is deeply personal to me.

As a formerly incarcerated person, I know firsthand what it means to rebuild after incarceration. I also know how difficult that rebuilding becomes when society claims to believe in redemption while maintaining barriers that make redemption nearly impossible.

Over the years, through my work in Tucson, Arizona, I have worked alongside individuals returning home from prison, many of them veterans, fathers, mothers, and people struggling to reconnect with their families and communities. I have seen extraordinary transformation. I have seen people overcome addiction, rebuild relationships, find employment, secure housing, and become leaders in the very communities where they were once written off.

But I have also seen how fragile that progress can be when basic needs remain out of reach.

The reality is simple: people cannot successfully rebuild their lives without stable housing and meaningful employment.

These are not secondary issues in criminal justice reform. They are foundational to public safety, family stability, and long-term community health. When people leave prison and cannot find a safe place to live or a legitimate way to support themselves, instability grows. Homelessness increases, families suffer and recidivism becomes more likely. Communities continue cycling through crisis instead of recovery.

I have met countless people who wanted to do better, but were released into situations where failure was almost built in. We tell people to rebuild their lives while handing them almost none of the tools needed to do it.

I have seen this transformation firsthand through the work we do in Tucson at The Earnest House and through The Howe Project.

I remember one woman who came to us after losing custody of her children and struggling with addiction. What she needed first was not judgment. She needed stability. She needed a safe place to sleep, a shower in the morning, and the ability to wake up feeling human again.

Within months, she earned a certification, secured a strong job, moved into her own place, and ultimately regained custody of her children.

She did the hard work herself. But like so many others, she finally had the tools and support needed to succeed.

You cannot expect someone to focus on recovery, family, or long-term goals when they do not know where they are sleeping that night.

Too often, America approaches justice as if punishment alone creates safety. But punishment without restoration only guarantees repetition.

The truth is that housing and employment are not rewards for rehabilitation. They are the tools that make rehabilitation possible.

The next 250 years of American justice cannot be built solely on punishment. They must be built on restoration, opportunity, and the belief that people can change.

In Tucson, community organizations and reentry programs have helped eliminate tens of thousands of nights of homelessness by focusing not only on accountability, but also on restoration. We have seen individuals who once believed they had no future become employed, housed, and connected to their communities again. We have seen people move from surviving to contributing.

That transformation benefits everyone.

When someone secures stable housing, entire families regain stability. When someone finds employment, children gain support, neighborhoods gain economic participation, and communities become more safe. This is not simply charity or compassion. It is practical, evidence-based public safety.

If America truly wants to reduce crime and strengthen communities over the next 250 years, then we must invest in the conditions that allow people to succeed after incarceration.

That means expanding access to transitional and permanent housing. It means encouraging fair-chance hiring practices. It means supporting mental health treatment, substance abuse recovery, education, and job training programs. It means recognizing that people are more than the worst decision they have ever made.

Most importantly, it means understanding that accountability and redemption are not opposing ideas. In a healthy society, they must coexist.

America often describes itself as a nation of second chances. But second chances sometimes exist only as slogans or political talking points. A fair chance means someone can walk into a job interview without being permanently defined by their past. It means a father returning home from prison has an opportunity to provide for his family. It means a veteran struggling after incarceration can find stability instead of sleeping on the streets. It means people who have served their sentence are allowed to fully reenter society instead of remaining trapped at the margins forever.

As we approach this historic anniversary, we should not only celebrate how far the country has come. We should also confront the work that remains unfinished.

The next 250 years of American justice cannot be built solely on punishment. They must be built on restoration, opportunity, and the belief that people can change.

That is the future many of us are already working toward in communities across this country.

And if America truly believes in liberty and justice for all, then the next revolution in justice must not be about who we lock away. It must be about who we allow to come home.

Daniel Howe (Leading with Conviction™ 2020) is the founder of multiple small businesses in Tucson, Arizona. This was inspired by his lived experience after incarceration and subsequent challenges after release. Since his release, Howe has housed thousands of people through their life transitions and has helped many more with employment opportunities throughout Southern Arizona.

Published in partnership with the Justice & The Next 250 campaign