Challenges with Ban the Box

Authors

Scott Anders, U.S. Probation Office, Eastern District of Missouri

Abstract

The Bureau of Justice Statistics reports if current trends continue, one in 15 adults and one in three African-American males will be imprisoned during their lifetime. A woman is eight times more likely to be incarcerated now than she was in the 1980s. As of today, one in 99 adults are imprisoned and one in 32 adults are on probation or parole. If an employer has a policy to exclude applicants who have a felony conviction, they are significantly limiting the number of qualified applicants. The ban the box campaign was created to remove this barrier at the application phase by asking employers to omit a check box regarding criminal records, while still allowing for criminal history to be considered prior to the job offer.

Recommended Citation

Anders, Scott (2017) "Challenges with Ban the Box," Missouri Policy Journal: Vol. 1: Iss. 5, Article 4.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.62608/2330-930X.1010
Available at: https://digitalcommons.lindenwood.edu/mpj/vol1/iss5/4