IV 

116TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. RES. 1198 

Calling on States to implement ‘‘ban the box’’ legislation. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

OCTOBER 20, 2020 

Mr. RUSH submitted the following resolution; which was referred to the 

Committee on Education and Labor 

RESOLUTION 

Calling on States to implement ‘‘ban the box’’ legislation. 

Whereas systemic racism within the criminal justice system 

has led to deep racial disparities within the population of 

Americans with felony convictions; 

Whereas a 2017 study from the University of Georgia found 

that while 8 percent of all Americans have a felony conviction, 33 percent of African-American males have been 

convicted of a felony; 

Whereas the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission 

recommends that employers refrain from asking about 

conviction history on job applications and limit their queries to job-related convictions or convictions that would 

be consistent with business necessities if they choose to 

ask these questions; 


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•HRES 1198 IH 

Whereas a 2018 report from the Brookings Institution found 

that one-third of all 30-year-old men in the United States 

who reported no annual earnings are either incarcerated 

or formerly incarcerated; 

Whereas the 2018 Brookings Institution report found that 

while only 49 percent of prime-age men were employed 2 

years prior to their incarceration, 45 percent of former 

prisoners reported no earnings in the year after their release; 

Whereas a 2003 study in the American Journal of Sociology 

found that stating a criminal record on a job application 

reduces the likelihood of an employer calling back a potential employee by 50 percent; 

Whereas eliminating questions about an applicant’s criminal 

history on their initial applications would allow job applicants a fair hearing with potential employers; 

Whereas 13 States already prohibit private employers from 

asking questions about a job applicant’s conviction history; 

Whereas an analysis by the Prison Policy Initiative found 

that, in 2008, 27 percent of formerly incarcerated individuals were unemployed, compared to just 5.2 percent of 

the overall population; 

Whereas the racial disparities in the United States criminal 

justice system are reflected in our current employment 

statistics, as in the second quarter of 2019, 6.1 percent 

of African Americans were unemployed, compared to an 

overall unemployment rate of 3.5 percent during the 

same quarter; and 

Whereas barring employers from inquiring about an applicant’s history in the initial application process does not 


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•HRES 1198 IH 

affect their ability to conduct background checks later in 

the hiring process: Now, therefore, be it 

1 Resolved, That— 

2 (1) it is the sense of the House of Representa3 tives that inquiries related to conviction history dur4 ing the initial processes of employment have the ef5 fect of deterring employers from hiring those seeking 

6 to build productive lives within the American work7 force after their convictions and should be prohib8 ited; and 

9 (2) the House of Representatives calls on States 

10 to implement ‘‘ban the box’’ legislation. 

Æ 


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