Ban The Box

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COLUMBUS, Miss. (WCBI)- Back in November President Barack Obama announced a new order directing all federal agencies to “Ban The Box.”

This move prevents federal agencies from asking about criminal history on the initial employment applications

Now, this would not eliminate criminal records, it would just delay when employers learn of an applicants record.

Many states have already taken steps to Ban The Box, however Mississippi isn’t one of them.

“It don’t matter what your crime was, how long ago your crime was, when you check that box, I’ll say a good portion of the time, it’s in the trash or not even looked at,” Silo executive director Quincy Brooks said.

However if Ban The Box becomes adopted here, that could easily be eliminated.

This move would delay federal employers from asking about criminal history until later in the hiring process.

“I think it’s a good idea because business they can actually benefit from hiring convicted felons, if it’s nothing more than seeing what a good job can do for a convicted felon,” Brooks said.

Brooks helps ex felons find jobs, and knows how beneficial Banning The Box could be.

“It’ll give them a fair chance, they’ll have an opportunity to gain employment where otherwise they wouldn’t,” she said.

However, some would not want to Ban The Box to be expanded to all businesses.

“No I don’t agree with the Ban the Box, because, you know, we need to know just a little bit, I guess the reason,” Rue 21 assistant manager Alice Guice said.

Guice said having that question on the application is the only way they’ll be able to find out about a persons criminal record.

“Like on the application you can have, have you ever been convicted and under there, yes or no, and tell us why,” she said.

But Guice said just because someone marks yes, it won’t automatically eliminate them from the hiring process.

“We’ll still give them a fair shot , give them an interview, and then give them a chance just to you know, tell us about what happened,” she said.

However Brooks, said there can be benefits with the box being gone.

“I think it would, like I said, make the community safer because people would be working and less crime would be committed.”

As of now, 19 states have some sort of Ban The Box Policies in place.