Reflective Essay

ERH-102

Maj. Garriott

Harrison Robinson

A Journey from Wrong to Right

By Harrison Robinson

  For me, writing has always been a subject that was a weakness. I always found writing to be a very hard subject for me to get a handle on, I have trouble understanding the writing process and all the technics used in ERH 102.  Coming into this semester I was not expecting ERH 102 to be as hard as it would turn out to be, for ERH 101 I had this bad habit of not being able to organize my thots for my arguments to support my thesis. Instead I would just state my thesis and write down all my ideas in the essay instead of organizing and clarifying, to help the reader. This is a bad habit that has carried over into ERH 102 is shown in both of my essays. However, with these latest papers in ERH I have been able to correct my mistakes and have come to understand what I have been doing wrong.  The other most notable problem that I have had is my grammar in my papers. This is mostly due to my dyslexia which I have had since I was a little kid, it most often affects the reader because they have a hard time understanding what I am saying in a certain sentence. It is a lot better than it used to be and has improved greatly this year especially since if affects my grade more with new teachers.

When I started ERH 102, we were give a prompt on arguing for a law that you politically were against and that we would spend most of the semester arguing about the law or topic that you choose.  The topic I choose was Background Checkson Criminals Applying for Jobs, a topic I felt like I knew a lot about and would be able to have interesting research. I approached my first paper like I did all my papers before it doing a lot of research on a topic and just throwing it into an essay with no flow or organization. Hoeing that the reader would be able to understand my train of thought, instead of me simplifying it so that anyone could understand the topic I was arguing.

Activity1

This semester I personally have learned so much about my writing. I learned to focus more on the prompt instead off going off topic and then diverting back to what i was saying. Now i state my topic sentence for the paragraph and give three facts or statements o back the topic sentence up. Making my papers more organized and flow better.

Activity 2

Grammar and Spelling are my two big problems on my papers, because of my dyslexia i missed spelling word and don’t realize or i will use the wrong word and it cause my papers to feel choppy or not make sense.

Activity3

I remember on the first paper i got back this year Maj. Garriott destroyed me on this one paragraph say that it just didn’t make sense at all and looking back though i the paragraph made sense to me however im use to reading may own messed up writing style. Because she didn’t understand my bad grammar.

Activity 4

Going into 102 i felt that not much was going to change compared to last semester prompts would just be a little harder and i would have to put more words on paper. This semester however my writing has greatly improved i can stay on topic and not go on about not important material. My grammar skills have also improved significantly causing my papers to flow better and be easier to read.

Activity5

“This law change will help the criminal justice department because of the lack of funds provided by the United States government as well as the fact that they are excessively understaffed to handle so many criminal cases a year (Department of Justice).” This shows how my grammar can cause problems in my writing. This whole sentence got marked on my Paper 1 first draft because it didn’t make sense

“Changing this law will also help the federal, state, and local governments by gaining as well as saving them money. The government will get more money because now the people that did not have jobs will be able to get them. In doing this more of these people will be able to pay taxes to the government. With so many previous criminal and past drug, offenders gaining jobs it will get a lot of them off government operated support systems that drain the government of billions of dollars every year as well. Instead transforming those people into taxpayers that pay the government doesn’t have to worry about taking care of anymore.” This shows the problem i have with going off topic when i start talking about drugs in the middle of the paragraph. Instead of talking about how the law change would affect the government on all levels.

Activity 6

Both of these show the problems i had when writing papers at the start of the semester. Both with how grammar effected my paper comprehension and how i would get off topic in my writings.

Activity1

Does not show development in his papers, only talking about how bad he is at writing Thesis. He says “He has a problem with thesis statements, because he has a problem with thesis statements.”

Activity 2

I would give it a 2, because it felt very simplistic and he wasn’t talking to the audience correctly he was just making a statement.

Activity 3

Its has flaws in grammar , mechanics, doesn’t craft the audience. I disagree however mostly because i hate it when people make a statement then backs it up with the same statement.

Activity 4

The prompt is about how you have improved your writing. The student however only talked about how he improved in working on writing, not his actual writing in the papers.

Activity 5

Focus on the prompt. Talk about your actual Writing in the papers not about your work ethic.

Assignment 2

ERH-102

Maj. Garriott

Harrison Robinson

4/5/17

Background Checks Job Applications

The point of the Background Check on prospective employees is so the employer can make a good decision about whether they should hire the said prospective employee. It is the right of the employer to decide whether not they want to hire the prospective employee. This means that the employer should be allowed access to the prospective employee’s information to an extent that pertains to the job the prospective employee is applying for.  This includes people’s criminal records whether that be a misdemeanor or a felony. The purpose of these background checks is to give employer the needed information to decide on whether the employer should hire the prospective employee into their place of business. It is not the peoples personal right to have a job. Nowhere in the constitution does it say the “People have a right to have a job from employers.”. This is what changing the Fair Credit Reporting Act so it easier for people with prior criminal convictions is not a good idea, because it violates the employers right to a sufficient workforce.

The Fair Credit Reporting Act is the primary law governing background checks in the United States (A Matter of Fact). The FCRA purpose is to promote the accuracy, fairness, and privacy of information in the files of consumer reporting agencies (Fair Credit Reporting Act [PDF]). The Fair Credit Reporting Act does this with help of the FTC and the EEOC the two departments responsible for making sure that the Fair Credit Reporting Act is followed.

Challenges of the Fair Credit Reporting Act have gone to the Supreme Court before with the case of NASA vs. Nelson. The Supreme Court ruled in favor of the employers saying that “Reasonable investigations of applicants and employees aid the Government in ensuring the security of its facilities and in employing a competent, reliable workforce.”(NASA vs. Nelson). This shows that it is unconstitutional to violate the employers right to a background check in the job application process. For it is necessary that the employer have a reliable workforce. The Supreme Court also states that “the Government has good reason to ask employees about their recent illegal-drug use. Like any employer, the Government is entitled to have its projects staffed by reliable, law-abiding persons who will ‘efficiently and effectively’ discharge their duties. Questions about illegal drug use are a useful way of figuring out which persons have these characteristics.” (NASA vs. Nelson). This statement by the Supreme Court implies how important it is for employers to have information about a prospective employee’s background. So, that they can better understand their character as a person and how that will affect their job in the workplace. People will try and make the argument about how this court case is about a government job problem not one in the private sector. This case is relevant to both since the government is an employer just like businesses in the private sector.

People applying for jobs also have a chose to get their records sealed or expunged. This is something that can happen for people with either misdemeanors and felonies . Although both have similar processes misdemeanors are sealed or expunged a lot easier the felonies (Help for Felons). This only includes class levels D and C felonies since class level B is life in prison and class level A is life in prison no parole or the Death Sentence. It differs from state-to-state; however, you first need to check to see if you are eligible to have your record expunged or sealed (Expunge a Misdemeanor From Your Record). Then you must go through the court system fill out the correct paper work and make a court appearance (Expunge a Misdemeanor From Your Record).  Doing this will get most misdemeanors and felonies cleared from your record or it will have them sealed away in your record (Expunge a Misdemeanor From Your Record).

If the Fair Credit Reporting Act is changed so that prospective employees don’t have too state, there criminal records till the end of the application process it will have some serious effects on employers. The employer has a right to a sound and reliable workforce by doing this you are putting them at risk. For example, say a person convicted of theft about 20 years ago gets a job working at a bank, because they are qualified and can convince the employer that they are best for the job even though they have been convicted of theft in the past. Then the person in question takes money from the bank to use herself. This is partly the employers fault but the problem would also lay with the change in the law. What is to say that the said employer couldn’t have had more time to make this decision if he had found out earlier in the application process. Another great example of how this would hurt the employer is if a person convicted of rape were to get a teaching job in a high school. Say the person in question were to explain to the employer how he and this girl were dating and he was 19 and she was 17 and they had sex. The parents found out and convicted him of a raping their daughter and she goes along with it, but it was consensual. The employer understands and gives this guy a chance since he is completely over qualified for the job. A few month later the guy get discovered having a sexual affair with some student and is arrested. This looks horrible on the school in question for hiring a rapist pervert. That is the kind of effect the Fair Credit Reporting Act change can have on peoples work environments.

Some people are deserving of second chances, not everyone that has committed a crime did it for bad reasons. Maybe they stole from a store because their family was going hungry and they had no other options. They could have been protecting a loved on when they assaulted that person. Everyone has a story about their past good or bad. There are people out there that have committed crimes for bad reasons as well. It is for these people that the system is in place to stop. This turns into a moral issue in people’s eyes because some people do deserve a second chance others however don’t deserve anything at all.  Therefore, the Fair Credit Reporting Act needs to stay the way it is now with the questions about prior convictions at the beginning of the application process not the very end. This way the morality stays out of it and the decision can be un bias.

To appease people with opposite views on this topic or people who are on the fence with this very gray moral issue. Maybe the law could be changed so that the explanation can be more detailed at the start of the application process giving people with prior criminal convictions more of a chance. This would be a lot more practical compared to changing the law entirely so the criminals have it so much easier people with criminal convictions. Also, it gives the employer more of a chance to look at the employees past before deciding whether to hire the said person. Thereby minimizing the risk level involved in changing the Fair Credit Reporting Act.

Changing the Fair Credit Reporting Act so much is not a good idea because it will affect the employers personal rights. If a person wants to get a job and they have a prior conviction the can get that conviction expunged or sealed so that it will not affect them when applying for a job. Also the effect on the employers work place will be great as well as dangerous. This is why a simpler fix like giving the people with prior convictions more time at the beginning of the application process that why the prospective employee could explain and the employer has time to think it over. This be a much better way to fix the Fair Credit Reporting Act that is far from both parties stand points.

Work Cited

1. Rod Fliegel, William Simmons on January 24, 2011. “Insight.” S. Supreme Court Holds That Constitutional Privacy Rights Do Not Restrict the Government’s Discretion to Background Check Federal Contractors | Littler Mendelson P.C.N.p., 24 Jan. 2011. Web. 05 Apr . 2017.
2. Background CheckLaws & Regulations For Private Employers.”A Matter of Fact. N.p., n.d. Web. <http://www.amof.info/gov-links.htm#FCRA>.
3. “FairCredit Reporting ” Dictionary of Marketing Communications (n.d.): n. pag. FELONY Web. Expungement.” Help For Felons. N.p., n.d. Web. 05 Apr. 2017. http://www.helpforfelons.org/felony-expungement-sealing/
4. “Expunging A MISDEMEANOR CHARGE.” Expunging a MISDEMEANOR CHARGE | Expunge a Misdemeanor From Your Record | Expungement Info. N.p., n.d. Web. 05 Apr . 2017. <http://www.clearupmyrecord.com/expunging-a-misdemeanor-charge.php>.
5. FELONEY ” Help For Felons. N.p., n.d. Web. 05APR. 2017. <http://www.helpforfelons.org felony -expungement-sealing/>.