We co-opted a negative vocabulary because it was convenient. Now, it’s time to recognize why words matter.

“At The Fortune Society, we frequently say ‘the crime is what you did, it’s not who you are’ because it’s important for people who have been in the system to remind themselves that they have an opportunity to move forward. No one wants to be judged into perpetuity for their bad decisions and no one wants to be branded with a Scarlet letter.” Read more from Ronald F. Day, our Vice President of I-CAN, Education, and Employment Services, regarding why humanizing language is a vital component to criminal justice reform.