Second Chance Month, 2021

Proclamation 10171 of March 31, 2021

Second Chance Month, 2021

By the President of the United States of America

A Proclamation

America's criminal justice system must offer meaningful
opportunities for redemption and rehabilitation. After
incarcerated individuals serve their time, they should
have the opportunity to fully reintegrate into society.
It benefits not just those individuals but all of
society, and it is the best strategy to reduce
recidivism. During Second Chance Month, we lift up all
those who, having made mistakes, are committed to
rejoining society and making meaningful contributions.

My Administration is committed to a holistic approach
to building safe and healthy communities. This includes
preventing crime and providing opportunities for all
Americans. It also requires rethinking the existing
criminal justice system--whom we send to prison and for
how long; how people are treated while incarcerated;
how prepared they are to reenter society once they have
served their time; and the racial inequities that lead
to the disproportionate number of incarcerated Black
and Brown people.

We must commit to second chances from the earliest
stages of our criminal justice system. Supporting
second chances means, for example, diverting
individuals who have used illegal drugs to drug court
programs and treatment instead of prison. It requires
eliminating exceedingly long sentences and mandatory
minimums that keep people incarcerated longer than they
should be. It means providing quality job training and
educational opportunities during incarceration to
prepare individuals for the 21st century economy. And
it means reinvesting the savings from reduced
incarceration into reentry programs and social services
that prevent recidivism and leave us all better off.

More than 600,000 individuals return to their
communities from State and Federal prisons every year.
Transitioning back into society can be overwhelming for
those who are formerly incarcerated as well as their
families and communities. Too many individuals face
unfair legal and practical barriers to reentry. The
reentry process is complicated in the best of times,
and is even more so with the additional difficulties
presented by the COVID-19 pandemic.

We must remove these barriers. Every person leaving
incarceration should have housing, the opportunity at a
decent job, and health care. A person's conviction
history should not unfairly exclude them from
employment, occupational licenses, access to credit,
public benefits, or the right to vote. Certain criminal
records should be expunged and sealed so people can
overcome their past.

By focusing on prevention, reentry, and social support,
rather than incarceration, we can ensure that America
is a land of second chances and opportunity for all
people.

NOW, THEREFORE, I, JOSEPH R. BIDEN JR., President of
the United States of America, by virtue of the
authority vested in me by the Constitution and the laws
of the United States, do hereby proclaim April 2021 as
Second Chance Month. I call upon all government
officials, educators, volunteers,

and all the people of the United States to observe this
day with appropriate programs, ceremonies, and
activities.

IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand this
thirty-first day of March, in the year of our Lord two
thousand twenty-one, and of the Independence of the
United States of America the two hundred and forty-
fifth.