San Francisco’s Board of Supervisors has cleansed its criminal justice system language so words like “felon,” “addict,” “juvenile delinquent,” and “convict,” could be words of the past. A person who was once called a convicted felon will now be called a “justice-involved person” or a “formally incarcerated person” under the new “person first” language guidelines that San Francisco’s Board of Supervisors has adopted.

A drug addict will be called “a person with a history of substance use.” A juvenile delinquent will now be called a “young person with justice system involvement” or a “young person impacted by the juvenile justice system.”

Supervisor Matt Haney explained, “We don’t want people to be forever labeled for the worst things that they have done.” Haney added, ”We want them ultimately to become contributing citizens and referring to them as felons is like a scarlet letter that they can never get away from.”

The crime rate in San Francisco is 151 percent higher than the national average.

One out of five residents of California has a criminal record according to the resolution, and words such as felon or convict are words that “only serve to obstruct and separate people from society and make the institutionalization of racism and supremacy appear normal.” The non-binding resolution was passed last July, but Mayor London Breed hasn’t signed off on the “person first” language proposal.

Police spokesperson David Stevenson says the department “made our members aware of the resolution and are researching possible impacts on operations and communications.”

The San Francisco Chronicle noted the “person first” language resolution doesn’t mention crime victims. The newspaper gave an example of how it will sound with the new terms when a person’s car was broken into by a recently released offender on parole with a drug problem: “A person who has come in contact with a returning resident who was involved with the justice system and who is currently under supervision with a history of substance use.”

Alrighty then.