U. students form grassroots campaign to “Ban the Box”

University students have recently formed a grassroots campaign called Ban the Box NJ in hopes of mobilizing political support for the NJ Opportunity to Compete Act, according to the campaign’s website.

This act, referred to as “Ban the Box,” aims to make the job application process more fair by removing the “box” on job applications that applicants are asked to check if they have past criminal convictions. If passed, the bill would shift the criminal check to after a conditional offer is given to an applicant, according to Shawon Jackson ’15, associate director of communications for the campaign.

“The NJ bill is fairly progressive because it bans the box for all private and public employees,” Ray Chao ’15, the campaign’s executive director, said. “The bill would set a national standard.”

Chao is a former member of the Editorial Board.

According to Chao, approximately 45 students are participating in Ban the Box NJ. The organization contacts state legislators, circulates petitions for the act and reaches out to local businesses and other colleges. He said that Ban the Box NJ is working closely with Students for Prison Education and Reform and the Petey Green Prisoner Assistance Program.

According to Chao, the public advocacy campaign was “completely initiated by Princeton students and run by Princeton students.”

Jackson said the primary reason behind the initiative was students’ interest in criminal justice.

Chao learned about the “Ban the Box” act from the Guggenheim Internship Program through the Pace Center for Civic Engagement.

“The reason so many students care about it [the bill] is because it’s one in four Americans [who have criminal convictions],” Chao said. “A lot of Princeton students have criminal convictions. The fact that your entire future and life can be derailed by a box that is not representative of your talents is not fair.”

To find out how to get in touch with politicians regarding the act, Chao organized a meeting in late February this year with Cornell Brooks, executive director of the New Jersey Institute for Social Justice. Brooks helped write the bill with New Jersey senators Sandra Bolden Cunningham and M. Teresa Ruiz. Through Brooks and the Institute for Social Justice, Ban the Box NJ developed a collaboration with New Jersey politicians.

According to Chao, Brooks was “excited about Princeton students getting so involved.”

Chao also met with several professors at the University in the fields of politics, economics and sociology throughout late February and March.

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After meeting with Brooks, Chao arranged a meeting with Cunningham, Senate Majority Whip and the primary sponsor for the NJ Opportunity to Compete Act.

“It became clear that they needed a grassroots advocacy campaign,” Chao said. “They’ve been working on legalities of the bill and business communities. They had not tried to reach out to people through public petitions.”

Cunningham said she was pleased to see support from University students.

“A grassroots attack is very good,” Cunningham said. “The students were wonderful, and they offered to help out in any way possible.”

Jackson said there are many aspects of the bill that make it a worthwhile cause to support. “The shifting [of the box] would make it all a fair process. You can’t just see an application and toss it off to the side,” he said.

He also explained that the recidivism rate is likely to decrease if the bill is passed because people with criminal convictions could then hold jobs, making them less likely to commit new crimes.

According to Jackson, the campaign’s current plan is to get the word out and secure as many endorsements as possible.

To do this, Chao said that the campaign is currently trying to reach out to businesses, chambers of commerce and communities across New Jersey in order to “make them aware of this issue.”

“All of the internal structure [of Ban the Box NJ] is built,” Chao said. “Now we’re just in the middle of reaching out at the moment.”

Currently, the bill has not yet been taken up for consideration, according to Cunningham.

“We recently had a final meeting with some of the state organization,” Cunningham said. “Some final recommendations were made. We are now taking a look at those, and we have to maybe make some amendments.”

She said that she expects the bill to be heard by the state assembly in late May or early June.

“Our goal is to really become a partner with the businesses in the state,” Cunningham said. “We’ve recently been meeting with the New Jersey Business Association and the Fuel Merchants Association.”

Chao said that he doesn’t think there is formal opposition to the bill but explained that those who are opposed to the bill “aren’t completely aware of the details.”

“‘Ban the Box’ sounds misleading,” Chao said. “We aren’t banning the box. We are actually postponing the box to the end.”

Ban the Box NJ will host a rally to support the bill on May 1 in front of the New Jersey State House in Trenton. The group will also submit a petition with signatures from community members to the Law and Public Safety Committee.

“May 1 is significant because we want to show elected officials that people in New Jersey care about this bill,” Chao said.