Never-Ending Sentences

In June 2020, I interviewed Joseph Gaston and Christana Gamble, two Black people who live in Cleveland, Ohio, about their struggles to find housing after completing prison sentences. Their experiences illuminate a mass incarceration phenomenon known as collateral sanctions—further punishments for those who have already served time. Throughout the country, formerly incarcerated people have had their rental applications routinely rejected because of past felony or misdemeanor convictions. This “Never-Ending Sentence,” as the Re-Entry Housing Committee’s 2020 report is called, demonstrates how collateral sanctions in housing is part of systemic racism. According to “The Never-Ending Sentence,” 80% of Cleveland landlords can ban applicants with felony convictions, sometimes for life. Because of housing discrimination, many people with criminal records wind up homeless. According to Christopher Knestrick, the Executive Director of Northeast Ohio Coalition for the Homeless, 82% of the unhoused who use Cleveland’s shelters are Black, and many have been housing insecure.