; Whereas yearly, over 680,000 people are released from incarceration, and are expected to be taxpayers rather than tax burdens, yet the reality is that these individuals go home to find that their sentences, although served, are far from over; Whereas there are approximately 45,000 collateral consequences and civil disabilities across jurisdictions that prevent people with criminal records from reentering society, gaining meaningful employment; Whereas, in many jurisdictions, individuals with a criminal record are automatically excluded from certain professional licenses such as those required to be a security guard, firefighter, real estate broker, and electrician; Whereas an estimated 6.1 million Americans, or 1 in every 40 adults, are banned from voting due to felony disenfranchisement or laws restricting voting rights for those with a current or previous felony conviction; Whereas the Federal Government has invested massive amounts of funding in policing, immigration enforcement, and prison and detention systems, which has accelerated mass criminalization and incarceration and fueled the prison industrial complex; Whereas 2019 represents the 25th anniversary of the signing of the Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act of 1994 (in this resolution referred to as the 94 Crime Bill ), and awareness that many of the policies contained in the 94 Crime Bill have proven harmful to certain communities; Whereas the 94 Crime Bill put forward the false view that punitive systems of policing and prisons lead to public safety and are necessary to combat violent crime; Whereas, by endorsing and financing ineffective and damaging policies and practices at the State and local levels, the 94 Crime Bill encouraged the growth of police and prison infrastructure while limiting, and sometimes depleting, community investments that would have increased public safety, particularly in underresourced communities