On June 12, the New Orleans City Council approved a measure to amend a 2018 ordinance that barred the City of New Orleans and City contractors from discriminating against job applicants with a felony conviction. As a part of the movement to “ban the box” (banning the “check box” which asks job applicants if they have a criminal record as part of an application), the 2018 ordinance mandated that would-be employers conduct interviews and narrow their field of candidates before doing background checks, and that applicants would not need to disclose a criminal record before making it to that stage in the hiring process. The original law also barred consideration of juvenile offenses, arrests that did not result in convictions, or expunged records. However, advocates noted that without a way to enforce the ordinance, this did not provide adequate protection to people seeking work who had prior criminal convictions. The recent revision added protections which state that a conviction would need to be relevant to disqualify an applicant, that there needs to be documentation explaining why the applicant did not get the position, and that the applicant has the right to sue in civil court if they believe their rights to nondiscrimination have been violated. The following comments were presented in person and online before the Council. (Comments may be minimally edited for clarity and length.)
I’m an organizer with the organization VOTE, I am a convicted felon as well, and I’m here to talk about ban the box. Right after Katrina, y’all came in and dismantled public housing, and we had trouble even in that time, using a criminal background check for people to rebuild the city. We were locked out of work because of criminal records, right? So I would say that the Council has a good opportunity here to do something that’s going to be positive for the city… There are jobs here available in the city because you guys are selling all the contracts and all the work out to contractors. Let’s hold those contractors accountable to make sure that citizens from New Orleans get those jobs. And that’s been a huge hiccup in this city for the last 20 years because the city is subbing contracts out to contractors that are not hiring local people because of criminal records.1Alfred M. (submitted in person with Voice Of The Experienced)
The Louisiana Fair Housing Action Center fully supports this ban the box ordinance, or the amendment to the ordinance for formerly incarcerated people and those with conviction histories. They’re facing discrimination, both in housing and employment, and those are the two very things that need to happen in order for someone to rejoin their communities. And so we fully support this ordinance. I’m really glad to see that it has teeth in it and an enforcement mechanism for those who face discrimination.2Monique B. (submitted in person with the Louisiana Fair Housing Action Center)
What we know is the City of New Orleans is losing people. Our population is in decline, and we’ve got men that just want to work and want to have jobs to support their families, to support their children. And what we also know is that we need Black men to be mentors, to show our young people the way to establish themselves and to be good citizens. And these men and women that are formerly incarcerated just want to do that. What we know is that ban the box, it was great. It worked wonderfully, but it just didn’t have enough teeth. So we have this amazing opportunity right here, right now, to give it some teeth, to make sure that discrimination and bigotry and racism doesn’t persist, and gives us an opportunity to make it easier for all those who are formerly incarcerated. And I believe that when we make it easier for [the] formerly incarcerated, we make it easier for the City of New Orleans to thrive, to be a city where people are forgiven, where people get second chances, and where we are known as a model of being able to lift up those that have been discriminated against so that they can rebuild and help us to continue to reimagine and build a better city going forward.3Rev. Gregory M. (submitted in person)
We spent 18 years in the plantation: Angola. We call it a plantation, behind the walls. We’re supposed to work. Most of my time, I was in the box. I wasn’t allowed to work. I educated myself, I taught myself to read and write. We understand that the rich, the ruling class, make the law, and they break the law. So ban the box—you know how to do it, get it right. You put us in jail, we serve our time, we come back and you still treat us like criminals.4Albert Chui C. (submitted in person)
For over 16 years here in New Orleans, I’ve lost count of the number of stories I’ve heard from qualified people whose employment opportunities were sharply curtailed or even eliminated altogether because of a past felony conviction. This practice does not harm only an individual. Employment discrimination ripples outward to affect their families and children and in turn, their neighborhoods and communities in the entire city. New Orleans prides itself on progressiveness. But can we truly say we are an equitable city when there are still so many… dead ends for people trying to improve their lives and the lives of other loved ones? I urge the council to vote yes to amend the existing ban the box ordinance and widen the doors for people who are only seeking to make an honest living.5Colleen G. (submitted online)
To follow up on these issues, you can email your City councilmembers. To submit a public comment, follow instructions at council.nola.gov. Interested in reading all comments after a meeting? You can email your councilmember or file a public records request.
illustration by Sadie Wiese
