Job Hunting With a Criminal Record

Article here. Excerpt:

'There is no dispute that far too many Americans carry the burden of a criminal record — at least 70 million, by recent estimates — or that the easy accessibility of these records in the information age imposes debilitating obstacles, especially when it comes to finding a job.

The harder question is what to do about it.

Employment is, after all, an important factor in keeping people out of the criminal justice system, yet, in a struggling job market, employers are often tempted to turn away anyone who appears to pose even the slightest risk. Thanks to the proliferation of companies offering instant online background checks, a vast majority of employers now run such checks on all job applicants. They can, and do, refuse to hire people on the grounds of an arrest itself — let alone a conviction.

People with criminal records often face all manner of entrenched and unjustified prejudice. Studies have found that job applicants who reported having a criminal record were 50 percent less likely to receive a callback or job offer. And, as with virtually every part of the criminal justice system, the effect was more pronounced when the job candidate was black.

Over the last five years, according to a recent report by the Vera Institute for Justice, 23 states have passed more than three dozen laws aimed at sealing or expunging criminal records for certain offenses so that low-level offenders do not continue to suffer for relatively minor transgressions. The convictions that may be sealed commonly include misdemeanors like disorderly conduct, shoplifting, or, in some cases, low-level drug possession.'

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