As if employers don’t have it bad enough in this rotten economy, the Obama administration is doing everything possible to make things worse. The EEOC wants to make it illegal for employers not to hire ex-convicts because that would be raaaaacist!
The Obama administration’s Equal Employment Opportunity Commission says it should be a federal crime to refuse to hire ex-convicts — and threatens to sue businesses that don’t employ criminals.
In April the EEOC unveiled its “Enforcement Guidance on the Consideration of Arrest and Conviction Records,” which declares that “criminal record exclusions have a disparate impact based on race and national origin.”
The impetus for this “guidance” is that black men are nearly seven times more likely than white men to serve time in prison, and therefore refusals to hire convicts disproportionally impact blacks, according to a Wall Street Journal opinion piece by James Bovard, a libertarian author and lecturer whose books include “Freedom in Chains: The Rise of the State and the Demise of the Citizen.”
Most businesses perform background checks on potential employees, but the EEOC frowns on these checks and “creates legal tripwires that could spark federal lawsuits,” Bovard observes.
Read the whole thing. Under the proposed rules, an employer’s background check on a potential hire turns up prior convictions, that employer would have to prove that it has a “business necessity” not to hire the convict. The EEOC has already sued employers. The article goes on to note that a nuclear power plant was sued for not hiring a twice convicted thief, even though it’s against state law to hire former felons at nuclear plants. It’s insane.
Update: Linked by Big Pulpit – thanks!
Will that mean businesses will hire a “token felon”?
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@lonelycon Once an ex con is off parole they areto be citizens again. not criminals for life stopping being hired
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Once someone has been imprisoned for a felony and then released, he has paid his debt to society. He/She should not be black-balled for LIFE from gainful employment.and have a public criminal record keep him from becoming a useful, employed. citizen. So many are first time offenders- and ‘FELON’ covers many different crimes. I’d rather work next to an ex-criminal than next to the criminal who just hasn’t been caught yet! How many thefts have been committed in companies by employees who have NO records? Judge the employee on his skills and experience. Only time will tell if he is trust-worthy, or not- Just like all of the other employees. These public record checks are ruining people’s lives- Once the debt has been paid- then stamp it PAID and let them begin anew.
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Oh, it’s not insane, Lonely. They are doing just what their Master tells them to do–anything and everything to destroy business in America. These people are evil, led by the False Prophet, and the only way they will stop is if their funding is cut off. America can’t last for another election.
Unfortunately, the Republicans, as usual, will do nothing. The entire elected body (excepting a few bright lights in the two Houses) needs to be sent on a one way trip on the Carnival Triumph. Put all the stink in one place.
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You’re incredibly naive and your thinking, just like the EEOC’s is dangerous, Betty. It’s not illegal now to hire an ex-con that committed felonious acts. This is government FORCING employers to do so, removing their freedom of choice.
You wrote that you’d rather stand next to someone with a proven history of crimes committed than not. Incredible! And now you want to immerse unassuming employees that have conducted themselves lawfully to rub elbows with past criminals. Well, they don’t get their slate wiped clean with me, Betty; it’s called past history and a vast majority reverts back to it. Don’t believe me, fine, read the facts:
http://bjs.ojp.usdoj.gov/content/reentry/recidivism.cfm
There are reasons that employers don’t normally hire felonious ex-cons. Just go and ask any local employer and wise up.
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Betty Betty Betty. You just don’t get it. Its not just the fact someone has paid their debt to society, its the simple fact the federal government can’t tell private employers who to hire. I have my background checked when I buy a car, why shouldn’t I be able to check the background of a potential employee? Sorry, kumbaya doesn’t work in the real world.
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[...] Illegal To Refuse To Hire Convicts? – Lonely Conservative [...]
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We should demand a Constitutional Rational for each new Bill. Again, if anything, this would fall into State control.
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Unless a convicted embezzler wants a job at a bank. You have to exercise common sense, and most employers do. If your crime has no impact on the job you are applying for, it’s really not held against you in most cases. Employers are people too (yes they are!) and most are willing to give someone a second chance. But it’s onerous to put the burden on the employer to prove a negative, rather than said convict just sashaying down the road and applying somewhere else. I didn’t commit the crime, he did. It’s his problem to solve and maybe he’ll think twice before committing another felony. The whole is experience is SUPPOSED to be unpleasant.
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Are you freaking kidding me? What a ridiculous over reach of government intervention!
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Obama sticking his Nose up Ex-Cons Ass – So Ex-Con get a JOB . I say Hell no.
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[...] From Lonely Conservative: [...]
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