For over thirty years, the Criminal Offender Record Information (CORI) system, has given employers access to information on current and potential employees' criminal records--information that they should very well have access to. But, of course, not everyone feels the same way, for instance, Darrin Howell, one of approximately a hundred people who showed up for a CORI Justice and Peace Day event. The Boston Globe reported on the event.

As music blared and people lined up for barbecue atop a hilly section of Malcolm X Park in Roxbury yesterday, Darrin Howell talked about how his life had changed three years ago when he was arrested for firearms possession and domestic violence.

``I took risks with my freedom and I ended up paying for it," said Howell, 24, who spent a year in jail for those offenses.

``Before I went in, I worked in administrative offices, doing data entry," Howell said, ``but after I got out, I haven't been able to find that type of work. When they check my background now and this comes up, they don't want anything to do with me."

Other critics of the CORI system argue that it eliminates the possibility of "a second chance" for criminals.

``In Massachusetts, CORI is a life sentence because it follows you around and prevents you from getting a job or a house even when you've turned your life around," Small said.

Small was with Benjamin F. Thompson, the executive director of Boston Strive, a non profit job placement and training program.

Small and Thompson disagreed with current CORI regulations that misdemeanor violations can be sealed only after 10 years and felonies after 15 years. ``They should be expunged, not just sealed," Thompson said.

``But now, we're allowing young black men to use CORI as an excuse to not do anything, to just sit back and accept their situation," he said. But I want them to know that they can take control of their lives, that they don't have to be locked out."

Don't you just love the race-baiting here?

As usual, the two leading candidates for governor see things differently regarding the CORI system, and people expect those differences.

City Councilman Chuck Turner, a longtime proponent of CORI reform, said the Democratic nominee for governor, Deval L. Patrick, is more likely to help the reform cause than his opponent, Kerry Healey, a Republican. ``I don't think we can expect much change under Healy," said Turner. ``I can't say any specifics, but if Deval became governor, he would make it a fair and just policy."

Well, that's a no-brainer. While he may not have time to vouch for each person in the database, Deval Patrick will certainly err on the side of the criminal, not public safety, as we all know well by now.

A recent Boston Globe editorial suggested that the difference between Patrick and Kerry Healey's stance on CORI reform is that "to Patrick, CORI reform means limiting the criminal record information available to employers. Healey says her idea of CORI reform is making more information available, not less." City Councilman Chuck Turner, a proponent of CORI reform (the reform that can be described as "weakening") thinks Deval Patrick is the candidate more likely to aid in the effort to undermine the intent of CORI. "I don't think we can expect much change under Healey. I can't say any specifics, but if Deval became governor, he would make it a fair and just policy," said Turner.

Make no mistake about it, these CORI reform activists--or better yet let's call them anti-CORI activists--support Deval Patrick because his idea of reform will weaken CORI to make it easier for an ex-con with a record of violent crime to get a job at a school. Have these anti-CORI activists been contacted by Deval Patrick to assure them of this? Come to think of it, that's unnecessary. Anyone with access to last week's issues of the Boston Globe and Boston Herald know how Deval Patrick feels about criminals (like Ben LaGuer and Carl Songer).

CORI may have its imperfections, and reform on some level to fix those imperfections sounds fine, but any changes that will weaken its intent is tantamount to granting a guy like Ben LaGuer a pardon.