Fair Chance Act, serving to "ban the box" for the federal hiring process, becoming law as part of military spending bill
Though not quite as consequential or contentious as last year's passage and signing of the FIRST STEP Act, Congress and Prez Trump this year are again getting another piece of federal criminal justice reform legislation done in late December. This Reason piece provides the basics:
President Donald Trump is expected to sign a bill into law today that will bar the federal government and its contractors from asking about the criminal history of a job applicant prior to the extension of a conditional offer of employment.
The Fair Chance Act, which was tucked into the massive defense spending bill passed by Congress earlier this week, was part of a national campaign by criminal justice advocacy groups and like-minded lawmakers to "ban the box" — referring to the question on job applications about whether one has been convicted of a crime — and reduce barriers to employment for an estimated 70 million Americans with criminal records.
"After many fits and starts, we are finally about to give formerly incarcerated individuals a second chance by eliminating a major hurdle they face when job-searching," Sen. Cory Booker (D–N.J.), one of the bill's cosponsors, said in a press release. "This legislation will immediately change lives by allowing thousands of qualified people with criminal records to more meaningfully integrate into life outside prison walls."
The law was supported by a bipartisan group of criminal justice organizations. Holly Harris, the executive director of Justice Action Network, said it will open "tens of thousands of federal government and contracting jobs to people who have made mistakes, but just need a chance to get a foot in the door to present their skills and qualifications."
According to the National Employment Law Project, 35 states and more than 150 cities have passed similar legislation, including red states like Georgia, Kentucky, and Oklahoma. Thirteen states extend those hiring requirements to private businesses.
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