BALTIMORE—Out of prison after serving 7 1/2 years for drug-dealing and armed robbery, Cedric Petteway is struggling to find a job in the worst economy in decades. The 32-year-old father of two says he has submitted more than 500 resumés for entry-level jobs in the past seven months, to no avail. Back Out Looking View Slideshow Brooks Kraft for The Wall Street Journal Ex-convict Cedric Petteway spent a recent day passing out leaflets in a West Baltimore neighborhood for the Center for Urban Families. More photos and interactive graphics "There are times when I think about going back to selling narcotics," says Mr. Petteway, who estimates he used to earn more than $40,000 a month running a cocaine-dealing operation in West Baltimore. "It's going to take a lot of determination, but I can't resort back to that." Cash-strapped states from California to Maryland are releasing thousands of prisoners as they seek to trim ballooning prison budgets. But the same squeeze compelling them to free more inmates makes it tougher for those ex-convicts to start a new life, and is fueling a debate about how best to prevent them from returning to crime.[Read more...]