Georgia is now the first state in the South and the 14th in the nation to bar state agencies from using a criminal conviction as grounds for disqualifying prospective employees.
The policy is commonly known as “Ban the Box.” Six states ban the use of such policies by private employers. According to Georgia Justice Project, a legal and social services advocacy group based in Atlanta, 3.8 million Georgians, one in three citizens, have a criminal record.
“The research is clear that the best indicator of whether a person with a record will be rearrested is their ability to secure stable employment,” the organization said in a press release.