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56 Am. Crim. L. Rev. 547 (2019)
A Roadmap for Comprehensive Criminal Justice Reform to Employ Ex-Offenders: Beyond Title VII and Ban the Box

handle is hein.journals/amcrimlr56 and id is 556 raw text is: 





     A ROADMAP FOR COMPREHENSIVE CRIMINAL JUSTICE
REFORM TO EMPLOY EX-OFFENDERS: BEYOND TITLE VII AND
                             BAN THE BOX



Claire Ashley Saba*

                                ABSTRACT

   This Note argues that the federal government needs to go beyond Ban the
Box and Title VII in order to address one facet of America's mass incarcera-
tion by promoting employment of ex-offenders. While Title VII addresses racial
employment discrimination against Black ex-offenders, Title VII is a patch-
work solution to a larger problem. Though useful in eliminating conviction
records as an initial barrier to employment, Ban the Box legislation does not
address the issues raised by criminal history reporting. Ultimately, bipartisan,
multifaceted federal criminal justice reform focused on expungement and seal-
ing past records, fixing criminal background checks, and limiting the use of
background checks in employment decisions will ameliorate America's prison
problem.
     This Note details the problems associated with and solutions for America's
mass incarceration crisis through employment. Section I describes how the crimi-
nal justice system intersects with employment, identifies issues with criminal his-
tory accuracy, and argues for criminal history reform. Section H focuses on the
current federal solution which uses Title VII to bring claims based on race to
remedy employment discrimination involving criminal history. Section III dis-
cusses state and local Ban the Box efforts aimed at curbing employment discrimi-
nation against ex-offenders. Finally, Section IV explains why federal legislation
aimed at both adequately expunging and sealing convictions and banning the
box will help address America's prison problem and provides a roadmap for how
to pass such legislation.



                                INTRODUCTION

   This year, Georgetown Law gained an improbable tenure-track professor: a con-
victed bank robber.1 Shon Hopwood turned his life around after serving eleven


  * Special thanks to P. David Lopez, Tanya L. Goldman, David C. Simmons, and Emma Mlyniec, for their
academic support and to Brian Murphy and my parents for their academic encouragement. Oc 2019, Claire Ashley
Saba.
  1. Susan Svrluga, He Robbed Banks and Went to Prison. His Time There Put Him on Track for a New Job:
Georgetown Law Professor, THE WASHINGTON POST, Apr. 21, 2017, https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/

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