Ban the Box: Should We Banish the Criminal History Check Box from Job Applications?

Open to Debate

Education, Society & Culture, News, Government, Politics

4.5 • 2.1K Ratings

🗓️ 19 April 2024

⏱️ 52 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Former criminal offenders in the United States face challenges reentering the job market after incarceration and so-called “Ban the Box” policies aim to fix this. This criminal justice initiative calls for removing questions about criminal history from job applications and delaying background checks. Those against "the box" argue former offenders shouldn’t continue to be punished and it prevents societal reintegration. Those in favor of early screening argue employers have a responsibility to ensure their business’s safety and make informed hiring decisions. Those who are against it argue former offenders shouldn’t continue to be punished and it prevents societal reintegration. Now we debate: Ban the Box: Should We Banish the Criminal History Check Box from Job Applications? Arguing Yes: Beth Avery, Senior Staff Attorney at the National Employment Law Project Arguing No: Jennifer Doleac, Executive Vice President of Criminal Justice at Arnold Ventures Emmy award-winning journalist John Donvan moderates Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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0:00.0	This episode is brought to you by Krakhan.
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0:26.2	investment and you should not expect to be protected if something goes wrong This is open to debate. I'm John Don Van.
0:37.0	Today's debate concerns something that you have probably come across in your personal life.
0:43.6	In fact, every time you've ever applied for a job.
0:46.8	Step one in that process is almost always filling out the job application, online or on paper,
0:52.0	and you have a bunch of blanks to fill in and a bunch of
0:54.0	boxes to check off, you know name education past experience job skills etc etc.
0:59.2	Well often there's a box you have to check that asks whether you have ever been convicted of a crime for a variety of reasons
1:05.9	employers want to know up front whether you have a criminal record or not before they learn very much
1:10.5	else about you but what is the likely impact of checking yes in that
1:14.8	box for the approximately 70 million Americans who do have a criminal record?
1:19.8	Is it fair to be asking that question right at the start?
1:23.6	Well, there's a movement going on for fair chance hiring policies known informally as
1:28.2	Ban the Box.
1:31.0	To get rid of that checkbox. And there are now laws on the books in 37 states
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