Ban the Box is a campaign to remove questions about past criminal convictions from job applications and push background checks to a later point in the hiring process so that employers consider a candidate’s qualifications first without the stigma of a past criminal conviction. The campaign has been growing with over 150 counties and cities adopting Ban the Box style laws and 30 states. Furthermore, the federal government has 'banned the box' in regards to federal employers, though not federal contractors. The following states have some form of Ban the Box laws: Arizona California Colorado Connecticut Delaware Georgia Hawaii Illinois Indiana Kentucky Louisiana Maryland Massachusetts Minnesota Missouri Nebraska Nevada New Jersey New Mexico New York Ohio Oklahoma Oregon Pennsylvania Rhode Island Tennessee Utah Vermont Virginia Wisconsin Ten states have mandated the removal of conviction history questions from job applications for private employers: California Connecticut Hawaii Illinois Massachusetts Minnesota New Jersey Oregon Rhode Island Vermont Because this is a relatively new campaign, there is still debate as to whether it truly removes the bias associated with hiring individuals with criminal records. Many studies have found that these types of policies do not prevent a bias because employers are still likely to have a bias towards those they believe may have a criminal record. This opens the doors to new issues such as racial discrimination; however, both sides believe that this campaign does more good than harm. For more information about Ban the Box, visit our Ban the Box State Laws page.