There is a growing "Ban the Box" movement in many counties, cities, and states across the U.S. hoping to help job candidates with criminal convictions. It seeks to get rid of the box on employment applications that asks if you've ever been convicted of a crime. When people with convictions check this box, they're often entirely passed over for job consideration, leading to a vicious cycle of poverty and reincarceration.
As incarceration in the U.S. continues to grow (often for victimless, nonviolent crimes, like marijuana possession), it's more important than ever to prevent job discrimination. According to the NAACP, today the U.S. has 5% of the world's population, yet holds a shocking 25% of the world's prisoners.
Criminal justice reform is obviously needed. Government created this problem by incarcerating so many, but until we get criminal justice reform, we need to make it easier for job candidates with criminal convictions to get jobs. Please sign the petition to urge Congress to re-introduce and pass a national "Ban the Box" bill!
Currently, an estimated 65 million Americans (roughly 1 in 4 U.S. adults) have an arrest or conviction record that would show up in a routine criminal background check. Many of these Americans have only committed minor crime, or have a history of arrest with no conviction. For Americans who are discriminated against in this way, unemployment often leads to a vicious cycle of reincarceration.
A similar bill, H.R. 6220, the Ban the Box Act of 2012, died in Congress. The bill would have would prevented employers from asking job applicants about arrest or conviction records until they made a conditional job offer. Certain employers, like schools and police departments, would be eligible for an exemption. More than 100 cities, counties, and states have adopted "fair chance hiring policies. It's time to finally push this through on a national level.
Please sign the petition to urge Congress to re-introduce and pass a national "Ban the Box" bill!
