by Tim Kaine, US Senator for Virginia
Once someone has paid his or her debt for a crime, that person deserves the opportunity to become a full, productive member of society again. This deeply held principle led me to restore the voting rights of 4,400 Virginians when I was Governor, and I’m proud that Governors Warner, McDonnell and McAuliffe have made voting rights restoration a priority as well.
If we want to fully reincorporate people into both the civic and economic spheres of our society, we must also provide them with chances to gain employment and become self-sufficient providers for themselves and their families. However, when federal agencies and contractors ask about criminal background on the initial job application, potential qualified applicants are unlikely to be considered if they have a history of incarceration.
The effects of such practices are toxic. Men who report criminal convictions on a job application to employers are 50% less likely to receive a callback or a job offer. African-American men who do so are 40% less likely to even land a job interview. With more than 70 million Americans who have criminal histories, asking job applicants about past convictions up front—requiring them to check “the box”—prevents a huge portion of our country from finding meaningful employment. The hardship that this hiring discrimination produces hurts families, discourages unemployed past-felons to search for work, and increases recidivism rates.
The federal government should not allow its agencies and subcontracted businesses to continue a practice that is harmful to millions of citizens and counterproductive to the goal of reincorporating people into society. I applaud Governor McAuliffe for recently signing an order to “ban the box” in Virginia. Thanks to this change, individuals re-entering the workforce are given the opportunity to demonstrate their merits to employers, and employers’ retain their rights to inquire about criminal history prior to making a hiring decision. Twenty-four of my colleagues and I recently wrote to President Obama, urging him to follow the lead of states like Virginia and issue an executive order banning the box for federal agencies and contractors. “Our nation’s legal and moral underpinnings provide that anyone who makes a mistake and learns from it deserves a second chance,” we wrote. “Those who have accepted the consequences of their actions and who have paid the price for their past transgressions, should have the opportunity to reenter the workplace.”
Job applications that demand immediate disclosure of criminal histories box people in by pigeonholing all former offenders as untrustworthy and preventing job seekers from providing for their families. They box our criminal justice system in by encouraging recidivism instead of reform. And they box our entire nation in as we fail to live up to the principle that those who have paid their debts deserve to be welcomed back into society again.
Let’s not box people in. It’s time to ban the box.
