Jackson Free Press

For decades, employers from fast-food joints to mall boutiques and financial-services firms to news organizations have been asking prospective employees about their criminal histories.

Sometimes, the question is whether applicants have been convicted of certain serious felonies. Other forms ask people to disclose whether they have been charged with any crimes. Still others want to know about job seekers' previous arrests.

Years ago, presumably, the idea was that employers could screen out dangerous workers in order to provide a safe workplace and to shield themselves from legal liability. But over the past 30 years or so, fueled mainly by a futile "war" against drugs—which has turned out to be a war against drug users above all—the number of people who have had brushes with the law have increased exponentially.

Today, the United States has the world's highest incarceration rate. Mississippi has one of the nation's highest rates of incarceration. As the state's largest city, Jackson is presumably home to a good number of formerly incarcerated individuals.

In the rush to mass incarcerate, people of color and poor folks of all ethnic stripes tend to be disproportionately affected; they're less likely to be able to afford to hire a lawyer who can help them avoid the kind of conviction they may have to disclose to a future employer.

Sadly, when a human-resources professional sees a check mark in the so-called box for past convictions on initial applications, often they assume the worst and reject that person's application without even knowing details about the conviction. If that happens enough times, a person who is otherwise motivated to work can slip into despair and possibly find themselves at risk of becoming incarcerated again.

No doubt this is part of the reason Mississippi's economy continues to lag the rest of the nation as evidenced in the state's 49th ranking for unemployment, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

So last week, we were encouraged to hear that Mayor Tony Yarber, Jackson City Council President De'Keither Stamps and one-time interim Mayor Charles Tillman were announcing a push to eliminate "the box." The details are still being worked out, but Mayor Yarber says the initiative will start with the city itself, which asks applicants about felony and certain misdemeanors on its initial application.

Not only is this right thing for Jackson to do, but it is a necessary step as Jackson under Yarber's direction has moved toward more aggressive policing in the city's neighborhoods.

Yarber also encouraged other employers in the city to follow the city's lead and remove the box from their applications. Doing so would not preclude asking about convictions later on in the application process or conducting background checks on candidates later in the hiring process.

What it does is give people a chance. After decades of our nation's ill-conceived criminal-justice policies, we certainly owe them that chance.