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National
VA Ban On Job Apps Will Help Ex Prisoners Transition
Virginia governor, Terry McAuliffe.
VIRGINIA --- “Have you ever been found guilty of a felony?”
For too many people, that question is the difference be- tween living a life of dignity and living a life of shame and bitterness.
Virginia Gov. Terry McAuliffe made a bold move Friday and signed an executive order to ban the box.” Through this statewide initiative, state agencies and public employers can no longer disqualify job seekers if they have a criminal record. This makes it easier for the formerly incarcerated to find employment and rebuild their lives. It also, most impor- tantly, brings us, as a nation, one step closer to humanity.
It’s no secret that the Amer- ican prison system is a messed- up institution, especially for Black men. Today there are more Black men in jail or under criminal supervision than there were enslaved in 1850. If we continue on our current path, as many as 1 in 3 Black men will be in jail, in prison, on probation or on pa- role in their lifetimes, prima- rily for minor charges like drug or traffic violations. Those prisoners eventually come back into the free world and still find themselves prisoners of their pasts.
A 2005 survey conducted by the Institute for Research on Poverty found that almost 60 percent of employers are unwilling to hire former in- mates. So even though they aren’t behind bars, ex-cons are still being punished. They can’t find work. Some can’t travel to find jobs or housing because of parole or probation.
A lot of ex-cons can’t even vote to change the policies that are so unfair to them. Basi- cally, they’re stuck between a rock and a hard place. This hopelessness can lead them right back to crime and right back into the jails from whence they came. That’s not rehabili- tation. That’s not progress. That’s certainly not humanity.
Thirty-five other states still require former inmates to indi- cate the crime they were al- ready punished for when they’re trying to start a new life. We need the nation to get like Virginia and “ban the box.” As McAuliffe said, “It’s all about forgiveness and second chances.”
FRIDAY, APRIL 10, 2015 FLORIDA SENTINEL BULLETIN PUBLISHED EVERY TUESDAY AND FRIDAY PAGE 11-B