Gov. Newsom signs law allowing inmate firefighters in California to have records expunged...

[Nevilledog]

Link to tweet

[CaliforniaPeggy]

1. I am glad to hear this.

I've read in the papers that many of these inmate firefighters have expressed the wish that they could become professional firefighters once their terms are over.

This will help them become the productive workers that they need to be and that we can support.

[Nevilledog]

3. It's the right thing to do.

[SWBTATTReg]

4. You took the words right out of my mouth, it truly is the right thing to do...

[crickets]

10. +1

[sheshe2]

2. K&R

[alwaysinasnit]

5. K&R Thanks for posting.

[procon]

6. The inmate firefighters are the hardest working crews

on the line. They take on the heavy manual labor tasks to free up the skilled firefighters to work elsewhere. They hike in, carrying all their gear and they are often right out front on the fire line with nothing but shovels as they take down the burning underbrush one foot at a time.

They risk their own lives so this is a Good thing.

[Mr.Bill]

20. And in the fire off-season

they do fire mitigation work. Clearing brush, creating fire breaks, etc.

[Sympthsical]

7. Actual prisoner rehabilitation?

Where they have a productive life ahead of them once their time is served?

Uh, Newsom does know he's in America, right?

But seriously, this is pretty awesome.

[PoindexterOglethorpe]

8. It's about time.

I don't know if any other state use inmate firefighters, but the same should happen everywhere they are used.

[lettucebe]

9. Firefighters in the family and I think this is the best thing I've heard in a long long time

They absolutely deserve this, and obviously are not dangerous criminals so this is an awesome thing to do. I don't live in California but that is what governing is about (IMHO).

[Demovictory9]

11. excellent

[cally]

12. Great news

Gives hardworking men and women a chance for a better life after serving their time plus we desperately need more fire crews. California is in crisis!!

[onetexan]

13. Second that. Great decision Gov. Newsom!

I can now officially forgive you for having been married to that loony Kimberly Ann Guilfoyle at one low point in your life

[jeffreyi]

14. That is good.

[WhiskeyGrinder]

15. Slave labor, but make it friendly.

[BlueLucy]

16. It's not slave labor

They are not forced to do it nor treated badly. There is a wait list of people begging to be on those crews. I know, I was one.

[greenjar_01]

18. Thank you!

[LanternWaste]

21. No more Boy Band references?

[WhiskeyGrinder]

24. When people are incarcerated, there are different power/consent understandings when it comes to

"forcing" or "begging." They aren't compensated for dangerous labor. Prison is designed to be boring and numbing; of course people will be desperate to do something different. None of this doesn't mean it isn't slave labor.

[BlueLucy]

27. You don't have to do anything if you don't want to.

If you want to lay in bed all day you can. Working was the only thing that made me feel like a person with dignity.

[WhiskeyGrinder]

28. Feeling like a person with dignity is what prisons are designed to take away from you.

Choosing to work in such a situation is hardly a choice at that point.

[BlueLucy]

29. I had a great time.

I think this is where the left goes too far... Stuff like this and getting rid of mental hospitals completely. No one says they did not need reformed but gone completely is why we have so many drug addicted (self medicating) homeless.

[Mr.Bill]

30. I understand that the firefighters get time taken off their sentence.

How much did that figure into your decision to do this?

And thanks for what you did. We have a camp in our county and I have seen these people in action may times and was very impressed. They are sometimes the first on the scene. I have toured the camp and even had lunch with the convicts. The food was very good and the living conditions were far better than any jail. There was not even a fence around the facility.

[WhiskeyGrinder]

32. I'm sure you did.

It was still slave labor. Not sure what you mean by "stuff like this and getting rid of mental hospitals," but prison is a tool the state uses to suppress wages and outsource labor, among other things.

[greenjar_01]

17. Hope they don't turn around and restrict who can be an inmate firefighter

[Mr.Bill]

19. There have always been restrictions.

For instance, if they have been convicted of a sex crime, they are not eligible.

[dhill926]

22. good job, gov...

[ChazII]

23. Thank you, Gov. Newsome. n/t

[WhiskeyGrinder]

25. Also, this doesn't mean that people who are incarcerated who are on firefighting crews

automatically have their records expunged. They still have to go through a lengthy petition process (assuming you have the resources) and a judge has to approve it, leaving the decision up to a person. In addition, there's still a list of people who are automatically ineligible for this law, because of the crimes they were convicted of.

[spanone]

26. ⭐️⭐️⭐️K&R ⭐️⭐️⭐️

[pansypoo53219]

31. finally. let them fight. stupid rules.

[Lucinda]

33. ❤️ ✿❧🌿❧✿ ❤️