Almost one in three adults in the United States has a criminal record that will show up on a routine background check. This has created a barrier to employment, housing, insurance, public benefits, and other quality-of-life services for millions of potential workers, especially in poor communities of color hardest hit by the country’s mass incarceration crisis.
Mr. President, we urge you to issue an EXECUTIVE ORDER that ensures both federal agencies and contractors choose their best candidates based on skills, qualifications, and individual assessment, and NOT past convictions. You can make sure our government is doing its part to eliminate unnecessary barriers to employment of qualified people.
We, the undersigned, SUPPORT equal opportunity for people with criminal records.