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GUESTS: Susan Burton, Executive Director at A New Way Of Life Reentry Project, Lead Organizer with All of Us or None, and former prisoner; Melissa Burch, Director of Programs at A New Way Of Life Reentry Project and long time community organizer around prison issues

The LA County Board of Supervisors passed a motion earlier this year calling for an evaluation of its hiring procedures of people with prior criminal convictions. Some months ago we spoke with activists from the group, “All of us or none, a grassroots organization leading the “Ban the Box” campaign. The “box” refers to a standard question on job applications that asks potential employees if they have ever been convicted of criminal charges. San Francisco was the first city in California to have the box banned from their application process. An estimated 12 million people in the United States have felony convictions on their records. The question of prior convictions contributes to the unemployment of 70 to 90 percent of formerly incarcerated people. In recent years, the percentage of background checks has jumped from 51% in 1996 to 80% in 2003. LA County Supervisor Yvonne Burke and “All of Us or None of Us” had asked Los Angeles County to follow San Francisco’s lead in ending employment discrimination against former prisoners.

For more information, call 323-563-3575, or visit www.allofusornone.org, and www.anewwayoflife.org.

The LA Board of Supervisors will be meeting on October 10th at 9:30 am at the Board’s Hearing Room, 500 W. Temple Street, to discuss the “Fair Employment Resolution.”

There will be a meeting on Tuesday September 19th at 5:30 PM at 10950 S. Central Avenue in Watts.