TRENTON, N.J. (AP) — Arthur Townes still remembers his breaking point vividly.
It was about a year after he was released from a three-year prison sentence for robbery in 1998 and he had finally gotten a job offer in New Jersey — actually, two in one day.
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Townes was being fitted for a maintenance worker uniform when, before handing in a consent form to allow for a background check, he admitted to the recruiter that he was a convicted felon and would like to explain his circumstances.
“If we have something to talk about, there’s nothing we can do,” he recalled the recruiter saying before rescinding the offer.
He rushed to a second job offer as a cook, only to also be shut out when he admitted he had a record.
Townes, of Newark, now 46, was able to fall back on a support group of former felons who were going through similar obstacles. He said he’s still haunted by his past and wants to help others avoid the same hardships.
Townes joined about 100 proponents who rallied at the Statehouse in Trenton on Wednesday to advocate passing a measure that would “ban the box” on job applications that ask applicants if they have a criminal history.
Advocates say studies show evidence that many businesses immediately toss out applications when they see someone marked “yes.” The measure would still allow employers to ask about a person’s criminal history but only once a conditional offer is made. If the employer chooses to rescind the offer based on a person’s history, that person can appeal, though there is no guarantee the position will remain open.
Townes said he was part of a small group that met with Assemblywoman Bonnie Watson Coleman, D-Mercer, to help draft the bill. Coleman said at the rally that this was a chance for people’s voices to be heard and urged them to “don’t shut up until the governor of the state of New Jersey signs the bill that will ban the box.”
Coleman said the bill is expected to be seen in an Assembly committee later this month.
The New Jersey Chamber of Commerce said it was working with sponsors over some concerns it had with the bill, but it would not specify what those concerns were.
Institute for Social Justice Director Cornell Brooks said legislation is necessary to help candidates “facing a brick wall” in the labor market.
There is only one word to describe the opportunity people need to better themselves after incarceration, Brooks said at the rally: “That word is spelled w-o-r-k. Work.”
