NCJ Number
90556
Date Published
1973
Length
115 pages
Annotation
After portraying the problem posed by placing unreasonable restrictions on the employment of ex-offenders, this handbook outlines the ways of removing such restrictions and describes relevant proposed and model legislation.
Abstract
Meaningful and gainful employment is a necessary ingredient of offender rehabilitation and the prevention of recidivism. Unreasonable restraints on the employment of ex-offenders are barriers to the achievement of these goals. Some ways of removing unreasonable employment restrictions on ex-offenders are the use of a pardon, an automatic restoration of rights, restoration of rights upon application, and the expungement and sealing of criminal records. The courts may also render unconstitutional State-imposed employment restrictions not related to a person's abilities, refusal to hire based on arrest records, employment criteria not related to job performance requirements, and statutory restrictions on professional pursuits. Employment restrictions for ex-offenders may also be prohibited legislation, by State attorney general opinion, by gubernatorial executive order. The proposed and model legislation presented deals with expungement-and-sealing statutes, arrest-records statutes, statutes requiring that hiring criteria be related to the job, and a statute including judges with the discretion to set the civil rights and privileges to be deprived or restored to the offender upon the completion of a sentence. Various sample statutes pertinent to reducing employment restraints on ex-offenders are appended.