Activist Melvin Whitley and attorney Daryl Atkinson went to City Hall the other day to get the city authorities to "ban the box."
Only to find it was banned already.
The box in question is the one on employment applications, to be checked if one has been convicted of a felony. Whitley and Atkinson say taking it off would help ex-offenders get jobs and stay out of trouble. They made their pitch at a city council work session, then Councilman Eugene Brown replied:
"You're preaching to the choir. ... The city already adopted such a program."
That was several months ago, said City Manager Tom Bonfield. To avoid wasting application forms, the box has just been blacked out, but the city has a "re-entry program" to help released inmates find work and in the past two years has hired 41 people with criminal records.
Atkinson and Whitley pressed on, though. Policy is OK as far as it goes, but they wanted the box banned by law.
"Our whole purpose is not just to take a box off and application, it's to have fairer hiring practices," Whitley said.
"Making it an ordinance would send a message to industry," said Atkinson, who described himself as "formerly incarcerated."
"Durham could be a leader," he said. "In other states [that have banned the box] it had a viral effect."
Councilman Farad Ali asked for examples of instances where banning the box has shown effective results.
"What is your definition of effectiveness?" Atkinson replied.
City Attorney Patrick Baker suggested taking the matter under review. "There are very few personnel policies we have as ordinances on the book."
