The California Legislature passed a bill last month that bars government agencies from asking job applicants about criminal convictions until the agency has determined that the applicant meets minimum qualifications for the job. This measure will help remove unfair barriers to employment that keep millions of qualified workers trapped at the margins of society. Gov. Jerry Brown should sign this sensible bill.
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About 65 million Americans have criminal records that place them at risk of being shut out of work, often for minor convictions that occurred in the distant past or even for arrests that never led to conviction. In addition, many people are shut out of jobs because of mistakes in criminal background databases that, even under the best circumstances, are difficult to get corrected.
The federal Equal Employment Opportunity Commission spoke to this problem last year when it reaffirmed a longstanding ruling that it was illegal to screen out applicants unless the offense was directly related to the job sought. A growing number of states and municipalities, too, now prohibit public agencies — and in some cases private employers — from asking about a job applicant's criminal history until the applicant reaches the interview stage or gets a conditional job offer. Nine states along with about 50 cities and counties have adopted such protections, and similar bills are pending in half a dozen states.
The bill awaiting Governor Brown's signature applies to state agencies, cities and counties. It contains an exemption to the ban on preliminary questioning for law enforcement jobs and other positions for which criminal background checks are required by law.
This measure follows a good trend of policy makers' starting to recognize that locking ex-offenders out of the job market is a bad idea. Without the ability to find work, many newly released prisoners are likely to fall back into behavior that will land them back in jail.
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