SPRINGFIELD – Illinois made asking job applicants whether they had a criminal history illegal in an effort to expand ex-offenders' career opportunities, but two new studies may be showing the idea isn't helping young black male applicants.
It could actually be hurting them, a story from Stateline.com says.
Jennifer Doleac, an economics professor at the University of Virginia who has studied ban the box laws, said they should be scrapped.
“We have two very good studies that show it’s really hurting young black men who don’t have college degrees and who struggle in the labor market for other reasons,” Doleac said. “If this law is getting people interviewed for jobs they’re never going to get, that can become discouraging for job seekers and a waste of everyone’s time.”
But ban the box supporters point to some groups, such as young white men, who appear to have been helped by the laws. They argue that giving liability protection to companies that hire ex-offenders or making it easier for ex-offenders to get their criminal records expunged could help close the racial gaps in how ban the box is affecting job applicants.
But not everyone sees it that way.
“The problem isn’t ban the box, the problem is racial discrimination and that we haven’t been able to tackle it,” said Michelle Rodriguez with the National Employment Law Center, which supports ban the box.
The rest of the story is HERE.
