Cooper to ‘ban the box’ for state government hiring, in latest NC criminal justice reform
State jobs will be more open to people with criminal records, due to a new executive order signed by Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper on Tuesday.
Starting in November, the state will no longer ask prospective job applicants to check a box saying whether they have a criminal record.
It will apply only to state government jobs, not private companies or local governments. The elimination of that question on job applications is a longtime goal of “Ban The Box” supporters as part of the larger criminal justice reform movement.
“People who have made mistakes often deserve a second chance, and having a job helps turn lives around,” Cooper said in a news release announcing his executive order.
Most other U.S. states have already implemented the reform, Cooper said, as have some individual city and county governments around North Carolina.
The governor’s office said 1.7 million North Carolinians have a criminal record. That’s one in every five adults in the state. Cooper said giving them a second chance isn’t just the right thing to do — it will also decrease crime, since people will be able to make money legitimately instead of turning to illegal acts.
“Not only will this help reduce recidivism, it will give state government access to more qualified job applicants who now don’t even get the chance to show what good employees they would be,” Cooper said in the statement.
The rule won’t make people’s criminal records completely secret. Hiring managers in state government will still be allowed to run background checks and ask applicants about any criminal issues that show up — but only of people who have gotten as far as being interviewed for the job. By waiting to find about someone’s record then instead of at the start of the application process, the logic goes, people will be able to prove themselves instead of being automatically weeded out because of their record.
NC making changes in criminal justice
Several years ago a bipartisan group of state lawmakers proposed a “Ban The Box” rule for all government jobs in North Carolina, state and local, The News & Observer reported at the time.
“In order to make people whole, this is just another way to give people an opportunity,” said Democratic Rep. Garland Pierce, a Scotland County minister, when he sponsored that 2017 bill. “Get them in front of somebody who’s hiring, and be able to explain it.”
The bill quickly died in the Republican-controlled legislature. However, more recently the legislature has been taking up a few bipartisan criminal justice reforms. Lawmakers recently passed — and Cooper signed — one bill helping people get their records expunged and another aimed at helping small-time drug users avoid lengthy prison sentences if they seek treatment.
Both bills had appeared to be dead, just like the previous Ban The Box bill, until the nationwide Black Lives Matter protests in the wake of George Floyd’s killing in Minneapolis. After prolonged protests in Raleigh and other cities around the state, lawmakers brought back both bills and quickly passed them unanimously.
Cooper also started a task force on racial and criminal justice issues following pressure from the protests. Last month that task force approved a resolution calling on police departments to ban neck restraints like the ones police officers used on Floyd, Eric Garner and some others who have died at the hands of law enforcement. They also asked police departments to create new rules requiring their officers to intervene if they see a fellow officer abusing someone.
Cooper also recently used an executive order to remove statues honoring the Confederacy and white supremacy at the state Capitol building, and the legislature approved $4 million in funding for a monument to African Americans at the capitol, the N&O has reported.
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This story was originally published August 18, 2020 at 5:32 PM.
