Civil rights activists push Obama to ‘ban the box’ on federal job forms

Civil rights groups and advocates for ex-offenders rallied outside the White House on Thursday to urge President Obama to ban a box on federal job applications that asks people whether they have a criminal record.

Scott Simpson, the director of media and campaigns for The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights, said Obama endorsed the concept last week.

“We really need the president to take the next step,” he said.

At the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) convention on July 14, Obama said, “Let’s follow the growing number of our states and cities and private companies who have decided to ‘ban the box’ on job applications so that former prisoners who have done their time and are now trying to get straight with society have a decent shot in a job interview.”

Major employers like Wal-Mart, Starbucks, Koch Industries and Target have already banned the box from their job applications, Simpson said, along with 18 states.

“We’re not asking the federal government to go unto unchartered territory,” he said. “We want the White House to take their commitment to reintegrating people seriously and to walk the talk.”

About 100 people gathered together in Lafayette Square on Thursday afternoon, holding signs that read, “Pres Obama: Ban the Box Now!” and “We Demand a Fair Chance to Work Now!” Among them was Marilyn Reyes-Scales, of the Bronx in New York City, who was incarcerated from 1995 to 1997 for selling heroin.

“I am much more than a felon,” she said. “I am a mother, I am a daughter, I am a sister, I am an actress. I want President Obama to do an executive order and ban the box now.”

Reyes-Scales said she has been unable to find a full-time job since she came home from prison.

“I did my time, so why does it feel like I’m still paying time?” she asked. “I can’t get a fair shake. I want to be self-sufficient.”

Dorsey Nunn, executive director of Legal Services for Prisoners with Children, has been home from jail since 1981.

“When we talk about banning the box, we’re talking about structural discrimination that comes out of the heart and soul of formerly incarcerated people that knew there was a difference between can’t and won’t,” he said. “We want to support our families. We can’t because of structural discrimination.”