Despite bi-partisan support, Connecticut Governor Jodi Rell ( R ) vetoed the Ban the Box bill which would have allowed formerly incarcerated people a chance to promote their abilities when seeking employment. The bill passed unanimously in both the Connecticut House and Senate, and had the support of the organization Connecticut Business and Industries. If passed, the legislation would have barred employers from inquiring, on initial contact, if the applicant had ever been convicted of a crime. The Governors of Hawaii, Minnesota and New Mexico took the opposite stance of Rell and enacted Ban the Box into state law.
The term “Ban the Box” was coined by the San Francisco non-profit group “All of Us or None”, when San Francisco was considering whether to pass a law that would prohibit employers from refusing to hire an employee based solely on whether the applicant had a criminal history. Several cities throughout the United States have opted to rid applications of the “Have You Ever Been Convicted of a Crime” box. Besides San Francisco, Chicago, Minneapolis, St. Paul and Boston have banned the box. In Governor Rell’s own state, New Haven, Hartford, Bridgeport and Norwich passed that law.
While Rell admitted that the bill had merit, she could not understand how the bill would be helpful to those applicants who had a prior conviction. Apparently the Governor failed to realize that responding to the box in the affirmative usually means automatic exclusion from being hired due to the stigma attached to having a criminal record. Being able to have an interview after filing the initial application allows the employer to view the applicant as just another person, and not just another convict, period.
The bill, as written,, would have given employers the right to do criminal background checks, but only if the applicant was a viable candidate for the job. In Hawaii, a criminal background check is done after a conditional offer is made. Minnesota’s law allows for background checks to be made when candidate selection and interviewing is made, and in New Mexico, when a candidate is selected and considered to be a finalist. Now Connecticut allows applicants to speak for themselves, instead of the box speaking for them.
In Connecticut, the Ban the Box bill specified that the box would be removed from most state applications, but would be allowed for certain jobs, such as law enforcement and corrections. All employers would also be able to ensure that the crime that was committed would not negatively impact those with whom the formerly incarcerated person would be working with, or for. For example, someone convicted of embezzlement would probably not be hired in a banking position. It is commonly acknowledged that one of the main causes of recidivism is lack of employment. Knowing this, the sponsors and supporters of Connecticut’s Ban the Box bill rallied together to have the veto overridden, and it was passed into law on June 21, 2010.
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