Free Republic

Ban the box policies forbid employers from asking about a criminal record on a job application. Ban the box policies don’t forbid employers from running criminal background checks they only forbid employers from asking about criminal history at the application/interview stage. The policies are supposed to give people with a criminal background a better shot at a job. Since blacks are more likely to have a criminal history than whites, the policies are supposed to especially increase black employment. One potential problem with these laws is that employers may adjust their behavior in response. In particular, since blacks are more...

Federal employers would be prohibited from asking about a job applicant's criminal history. President Barack Obama on Monday will announce a series of measures designed to reduce obstacles facing former prisoners reintegrating into society, including an executive action directing federal employers to delay asking questions about a job applicant's criminal history until later in the application process. Many states, cities and private employers have already taken steps to "ban the box," which refers to the checkbox on employment applications asking if the applicant has ever been convicted of a crime. However, some federal employers and contractors still ask the question....

On Monday, President Obama is announcing a new order to reduce potential discrimination against former convicts in the hiring process for federal government employees. It is a step towards what many criminal justice reformers call "ban the box" - the effort to eliminate requirements that job applicants check a box on their applications if they have a criminal record. While the rule was once seen as a common sense way for employers to screen for criminal backgrounds, it has been increasingly criticized as a hurdle that fosters employment discrimination against former inmates, regardless of the severity of their offense or...

This ban the box movement is the hot new thing with the left and cropping up all over the country in places they run, like Durham. The idea is that you can’t ask ex-cons if they have a criminal record when they apply for a job, or can only ask if they have certain convictions. Durham’s is a slightly watered-down version of this where they don’t look at criminal convictions until the end of the hiring process. (What Durham is clearly doing is getting a foot in the door for a full-out ban the box ordinance.) This is a disaster...