Chattanooga City Council member Yusuf Hakeem speaks in a meeting in this Aug. 12, 2014, photo.The local branch of the NAACP has launched an effort to prohibit employers from asking about a job applicant's criminal background.
In doing so, the group joins a nationwide movement called "Ban the Box" that has led to laws banning or restricting such questions in the hiring process in more than 60 cities - including Memphis - and 13 states, according to the National Employment Law Project.
ABOUT BAN THE BOX• More than 60 cities and 13 states have banned or restricted questions about a job applicant's criminal background.• In most cases, restrictions apply only to public-sector jobs.• But private employers must comply with ban the box in four states - Massachusetts, Hawaii, Minnesota and Rhode Island - and some cities, such as Baltimore and San Francisco.Source: National Employment Law Project
The Chattanooga-Hamilton County NAACP wants to see questions about criminal history removed from job applications and background checks be delayed until later in the hiring process.
The organization is starting with city and county government in the hope that officials will implement the policy. But ultimately the goal is to expand the model to private employers as well.
City Councilman Yusuf Hakeem said he supports the Ban the Box policy and hopes that the council would consider passing a resolution to support it.
"We're talking about people who have paid their debt to society," Hakeem said. "We're talking about not penalizing them a second time. To say we want people to be law-abiding citizens, we have to treat them in a way where they can see that and not just say the words."
But he said the NAACP must do more to educate the council beyond the emails that have been sent to the city and county thus far.
BAN THE BOX IN GEORGIAGeorgia this summer became the first state in the Deep South to consider "ban the box" on state employment applications. Those seeking state jobs, with exceptions for public safety and similar work, won't have to reveal their criminal histories when they apply; instead, applicants will be required to disclose any criminal convictions during a face-to-face interview. Gov. Nathan Deal will sign an executive order implementing the change before the General Assembly reconvenes in January, Deal spokeswoman Sasha Dlugolenski said Friday.
Eric Atkins, branch secretary of the local NAACP, has estimated that thousands of Chattanoogans could benefit.
Ban the Box gives opportunity to people who have criminal records to be considered for jobs, said Atkins. And delaying inquiries about criminal history allows the employer to screen the applicant based on his listed skills and qualifications.
"Ask people how to solve community issues and it always comes back to job opportunities," said Atkins. "It is morally imperative that (Ban the Box) is implemented as quickly as possible to repair broken hopes and dreams."
It's been three years since Ricky Rogers picked up a felony charge for aggravated assault. He's been looking for more than a year but can't find steady work. He said he was a cashier at a gas station for three weeks before his employer dismissed him after checking his record.
With a 1-year-old daughter to support, he asks, what options does he have?
"I want to work and make money the right way," Rogers said.
"It's extremely hard," said 24-year-old, two-time felon Darnell Cooper. "You have no options that are law-abiding. Just imagine how it would feel if you can't support your child or not even support yourself."
Nationally, Ban-the-Box laws have been encouraged by civil rights groups, including the NAACP, which says that people of color make up better than two-thirds of the more than 2 million incarcerated Americans.
In Tennessee alone, prisons and local jails released a total of 100,633 felons between 2001 and 2007, according to a 2010 Tennessee Department of Correction study. In July 2014 the state had nearly 80,000 offenders on parole or under some other kind of community supervision, according to the TDOC.
"Millions are spent on how to prevent violence in the community, and the people have said they need access to livable-wage jobs," said Ash-Lee Henderson of Concerned Citizens for Justice. CCJ, a social justice organization, is also researching Ban the Box and wants it to be adopted.
Hamilton County's communications manager, Mike Dunne, said county policy now does not require job applicants to indicate criminal history on applications.
If the applicant is selected for a job, employment is contingent on a background check. If the check reveals a history, the applicant will have opportunity to explain. A decision is made based on the correlation of the history and the position applied for, wrote Dunne in an emailed statement.
Some private employers are skeptical of the Ban-the-Box effort.
"You hate to prejudge people, but still," said Rico Monuments owner and former City Councilman Manny Rico. "Why would I want someone with a record when I could hire someone who doesn't have one?"
Hiring a person with a felony may be fine for, say, factory work, he said. But his business is customer service. And he's serving customers at a time when they are upset and sometimes not very nice.
"You can't have someone who will snap back," he said. "You have to have a person who knows that they can't be rude because it will hurt my business. I can't have that."
Cooper said felons could be an employer's best workers.
Felons work hard because they have a point to prove, said Cooper. They know coming in that they have messed up and they have a rare opportunity to be productive again.
Contact staff writer Yolanda Putman at yput man@timesfreepress.com or 757-6431.