The New York Times highlighted an issue CNUS has been addressing for many years -- language matters. How we talk about each other contributes to how we are treated in society.
Photo credit: The New York Times.
The Justice Department’s Office of Justice Programs, which supports law enforcement and criminal justice efforts across the country, on Wednesday announced that it would no longer use the words “felon” or “convict” on its website, in grant solicitations or in speeches, but would instead use “person who committed a crime” or “individual who was incarcerated.”
Writing in The Washington Post, Karol Mason, the assistant attorney general who leads that office, said the office adopted this change in language “to solidify the principles of individual redemption and second chances that our society stands for.”
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