MEMPHIS—
FAST FACTS:
- 8,915 people in Shelby County either on probation or other form of early release
- Two council members say many times when people check the "convicted of crime" box, applications thrown away
- Boston, Baltimore, Austin, Chicago, just a few of the cities that no longer have box on city job applications
(Memphis 5/11/2010) The room is small and ugly.
Room 501, on the 5th floor of Memphis City Hall.
It's where Memphis City Council members debate the issues, surrounded by lots of city workers and a few employees.
On this day they had one other man looking on.
His name was Reverend DeAndre Brown, a convicted felon who did the crime, did his time, got out, and started looking for work. "It was rough," he said. "It was so rough my wife and I decided to do something about it."
They started a company called Lifeline to Success, which helps former inmates to get back into society.
One of the things that people don't like to think about is most people behind bars will end up back out on the streets.
Close to 9,000 people in Shelby County are either on parole or some other form of early release.
They need to find jobs.
But when asked on applications whether they've been convicted of a crime, once they check yes, sometimes it's the kiss of death for getting a job.
"When men and women have served their time," Reverend Brown says, "They have hopes they can make it. When you don't have hope, the only thing you can expect is failure."
Memphis City Council members Janis Fullilove and Harold Collins have both been working on plans to change things.
They want to "ban the box" about whether the applicant has been convicted of crimes.
Instead, they want to give people applying for city jobs an equal chance.
If the applicant seems qualified, then the city will do a background check.
The city won't put people convicted of sex crimes to work with children.
"I know of one department," says City Councilman Shea Flinn, "where someone had been convicted of ID theft. They served time. They should have an opportunity for gainful employment. But it wouldn't be a good idea to have them work in a department where they take people's information down."
