I too strongly recommend the adoption of the petitioner's request, and I encourage the Board to view this specific matter within the larger framework of the national conversation that's unfolding about the stigmatization of those our society characterizes as "criminals" and "felons" during the era of mass incarceration. The petition before you reflects a concrete opportunity to acknowledge that our societal impulse to be punitive does not represent our most cherished normative values and principles. That societal impulse, which is based fundamentally on fear, has short-circuited our creativity and common sense, as well as our care, compassion and concern for thousands upon thousands of individuals who deserve a second chance, who have served their time, and who should see their "sentence" finally come to an end. Restrictions such as those this petition seeks to remedy are an enormous hurdle for such individuals, and they reinforce the self-perpetuation of our nation's horrifically inneffective and immoral criminal justice system - the largest and most punitive such system on the planet.