Proposed city law would ban asking job applicants about their criminal records

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7. i have great sympathy for this situation, but...

i don't at all care for the way our "criminal justice" system works, especially given the way that, in practice, bigotry plays itself out repeatedly in our criminal code, enforcement, trials, and punishments, as well as post-punishment punishments, as the op notes.

the government absolutely should do more to improve the entire process, including improving how people fare post-incarceration.

the problem is always political, and the reality is that, if this were to become law, the minute some felon commits a crime in a workplace, particularly a violent crime, and even more particularly rape, then the media would go absolutely nuts over it and the law would be repealed in a matter of days.

so while i think the government has much work to do in this area, i think this idea, or at least this idea outside of a large package of reforms, is not a very good political strategy.

i am glad that someone is thinking about this, though. i'm sick of the throw-away-the-key mentality.