In a commentary written for the Orlando Sentinel on March 7, State Senator Randolph Bracy called for a ban on requesting criminal history disclosure in public-sector job applications. Bracy is co-sponsoring Senate Bill 244, which he hopes will move the state to allow job applicants with criminal records an opportunity to be evaluated on the same basis as everyone else before having to disclose their past to potential employers.
According to Bracy, 25 other states have already lifted this barrier to employment.
“Florida,” Bracy says, “should follow in the steps of its neighbor, Georgia, where Republican Gov. Nathan Deal led the way for his state’s ban, [and] where even Wal-Mart and Koch Industries have voluntarily stripped criminal histories from initial job applications.”
