WENDY J. MURPHY: Gov. Deval Patrick wrong to gamble on integrity those working casinos
COMMENTARY —
Only in Massachusetts can a sitting governor declare without blinking that people who want jobs in the new casino industry shouldn’t have to submit to a thorough background check.
It’s worse than that. Gov. Deval Patrick actually said: “While the importance of thorough background investigations is unquestioned … the highest levels of background checks and screening may not be necessary nor appropriate for every employee.”
How is it that “thorough” screening is important, but “thorough” doesn’t include checking to see whether the applicant is a convicted bookie?
We’re talking about the gambling industry. Lots of convicted bookies could easily apply their well-honed skills at our casinos, but I think this is an industry where certain job experience shouldn’t count for very much.
Patrick has never shied from expressing fondness for criminals. Recall his work at the Department of Justice fighting for the “civil rights” of prisoners to have fully inflated basketballs. And then he was a pen-pal with Ben LaGuer, a rapist who left for dead an elderly woman he violated for nearly eight hours. Patrick called him “thoughtful.”
Even on something as simple as privacy rights the guy has his head on backward. He’s never uttered a word about the myriad ways victims in Massachusetts, unlike almost every other state, are forced to reveal irrelevant confidential medical files to accused criminals, yet he openly advocates for “privacy rights” for criminals in their rap sheets and fought for stricter CORI laws so the public would have less access to information about rapists, robbers and drug dealers.
Maybe he’s right and casinos are better off hiring ex-cons as it will give them something to do as an alternative to crime. But what if he’s wrong? Legalized gambling is to criminals like heroin to a junkie. Thugs are already lined up to score – and the one-armed bandits aren’t even in production yet. Just imagine how much easier it will be when they don’t have to sneak in because they have employee name tags.
There’s gambling for fun – and then there’s gambling with people’s lives. All that money we think is coming to the Bay State when casinos open for business is staying right there in Connecticut and Rhode Island, where people have to reveal whether they’ve been convicted of stealing before they’re hired to take more people’s money in the name of entertainment.
Convicted criminals have a right to work, and maybe it’s appropriate to give some of them jobs in the gaming industry. But let it be after a full background check, including criminal records and drug testing. If a guy is truly reformed, he won’t mind telling the truth and explaining why he deserves a second shot. It’s the guy who hides his background that needs the most scrutiny. All the relevant research on employee screening talks about the importance of honesty in the application process, and the need to explore unexplained gaps in employment (whether due to incarceration or otherwise).
Missing or misleading information should be seen as a significant red flag that deserves extra scrutiny, not a gubernatorial pardon.
In any other state, a governor’s decision to veto provisions that require careful screening of candidates for employment in the gambling industry would get the guy laughed out of office.
Not here – where the lemmings who can’t see past the “D” next to Patrick’s name far exceed those who think some things are more important than partisan politics.
Maybe Elizabeth Warren should get involved in this mess. She needs a way to get Scott Brown’s people off her back about her “Pow Wow Chow” problems, while retaining some attachment to the claim that she’s part Native American.
It’s clear Warren sincerely believes she has Cherokee blood somewhere in her DNA, and if sincerity were more important than hypocrisy, she’d be all set. But since even some of her ardent supporters have left the reservation after realizing she not only claimed a proud heritage but used it to her professional advantage, thus disadvantaging a true minority, she’s in a whole lot of trouble that no amount of rain dancing will cure.
Maybe she can use that 1/32 bit of Indian blood to offer herself up as new head of the casino Industry. Unlike affirmative action laws, she can legitimately take advantage of even an infinitesimally small bit of Native American heritage to boost her moral authority to take on a leadership role in a business seen as intimately connected to Native American culture.
Though she’s not from the right “tribe” for this neck of the world, she’ll be safe from politically motivated interrogators because Gov. Patrick made it legal for employees to hide their true backgrounds. Once she’s moved on to casinos, Brown’s people will back off the “Pow Wow Chow” controversy, happy to slide into victory in November without an opponent.
It’d be a win-win-win for Brown, Patrick and Warren – and who doesn’t want to start Massachusetts’ new gambling career with a trifecta?
Wendy Murphy is a leading victims rights advocate and nationally recognized television legal analyst. She is an adjunct professor at New England Law in Boston. She can be reached at wmurphy@nesl.edu. Read more of her columns at The Daily Beast .
READ MORE Wendy Murphy columns.
Read more: http://www.patriotledger.com/topstories/x1040011782/COMMENTARY-Gov-Deval-Patrick-wrong-to-gamble-on-integrity-those-working-casinos#ixzz1vV5o7QGq
It’s worse than that. Gov. Deval Patrick actually said: “While the importance of thorough background investigations is unquestioned … the highest levels of background checks and screening may not be necessary nor appropriate for every employee.”
How is it that “thorough” screening is important, but “thorough” doesn’t include checking to see whether the applicant is a convicted bookie?
We’re talking about the gambling industry. Lots of convicted bookies could easily apply their well-honed skills at our casinos, but I think this is an industry where certain job experience shouldn’t count for very much.
Patrick has never shied from expressing fondness for criminals. Recall his work at the Department of Justice fighting for the “civil rights” of prisoners to have fully inflated basketballs. And then he was a pen-pal with Ben LaGuer, a rapist who left for dead an elderly woman he violated for nearly eight hours. Patrick called him “thoughtful.”
Even on something as simple as privacy rights the guy has his head on backward. He’s never uttered a word about the myriad ways victims in Massachusetts, unlike almost every other state, are forced to reveal irrelevant confidential medical files to accused criminals, yet he openly advocates for “privacy rights” for criminals in their rap sheets and fought for stricter CORI laws so the public would have less access to information about rapists, robbers and drug dealers.
Maybe he’s right and casinos are better off hiring ex-cons as it will give them something to do as an alternative to crime. But what if he’s wrong? Legalized gambling is to criminals like heroin to a junkie. Thugs are already lined up to score – and the one-armed bandits aren’t even in production yet. Just imagine how much easier it will be when they don’t have to sneak in because they have employee name tags.
There’s gambling for fun – and then there’s gambling with people’s lives. All that money we think is coming to the Bay State when casinos open for business is staying right there in Connecticut and Rhode Island, where people have to reveal whether they’ve been convicted of stealing before they’re hired to take more people’s money in the name of entertainment.
Convicted criminals have a right to work, and maybe it’s appropriate to give some of them jobs in the gaming industry. But let it be after a full background check, including criminal records and drug testing. If a guy is truly reformed, he won’t mind telling the truth and explaining why he deserves a second shot. It’s the guy who hides his background that needs the most scrutiny. All the relevant research on employee screening talks about the importance of honesty in the application process, and the need to explore unexplained gaps in employment (whether due to incarceration or otherwise).
Missing or misleading information should be seen as a significant red flag that deserves extra scrutiny, not a gubernatorial pardon.
In any other state, a governor’s decision to veto provisions that require careful screening of candidates for employment in the gambling industry would get the guy laughed out of office.
Not here – where the lemmings who can’t see past the “D” next to Patrick’s name far exceed those who think some things are more important than partisan politics.
Maybe Elizabeth Warren should get involved in this mess. She needs a way to get Scott Brown’s people off her back about her “Pow Wow Chow” problems, while retaining some attachment to the claim that she’s part Native American.
It’s clear Warren sincerely believes she has Cherokee blood somewhere in her DNA, and if sincerity were more important than hypocrisy, she’d be all set. But since even some of her ardent supporters have left the reservation after realizing she not only claimed a proud heritage but used it to her professional advantage, thus disadvantaging a true minority, she’s in a whole lot of trouble that no amount of rain dancing will cure.
Maybe she can use that 1/32 bit of Indian blood to offer herself up as new head of the casino Industry. Unlike affirmative action laws, she can legitimately take advantage of even an infinitesimally small bit of Native American heritage to boost her moral authority to take on a leadership role in a business seen as intimately connected to Native American culture.
Though she’s not from the right “tribe” for this neck of the world, she’ll be safe from politically motivated interrogators because Gov. Patrick made it legal for employees to hide their true backgrounds. Once she’s moved on to casinos, Brown’s people will back off the “Pow Wow Chow” controversy, happy to slide into victory in November without an opponent.
It’d be a win-win-win for Brown, Patrick and Warren – and who doesn’t want to start Massachusetts’ new gambling career with a trifecta?
Wendy Murphy is a leading victims rights advocate and nationally recognized television legal analyst. She is an adjunct professor at New England Law in Boston. She can be reached at wmurphy@nesl.edu. Read more of her columns at The Daily Beast .
READ MORE Wendy Murphy columns.
Read more: http://www.patriotledger.com/topstories/x1040011782/COMMENTARY-Gov-Deval-Patrick-wrong-to-gamble-on-integrity-those-working-casinos#ixzz1vV5o7QGq
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