Want to reduce crime and lower unemployment? Try hiring a felon

As we look for ways to spread prosperity beyond the top 20 percent, the American Civil Liberties Union may have found at least a partial solution that could have a positive impact on millions of Americans.

The ACLU and its Trone Private Sector and Education Advisory Council released a report that makes the case to hire formerly incarcerated people and give them a second chance.

Seattle attorney and director of the Trone Center for Justice and Equality Jeffery Robinson told Seattle’s Morning News that the idea has the support of companies such as Wal-Mart and The Coca-Cola Company. He says there about approximately 70 million Americans with criminal records that would benefit from removing the stigma of hiring someone formerly incarcerated and the thousands of restrictions against them.

“There used to be a concept in America that if you commit a crime — OK, go to prison — but once you’ve done your time, you’ve done your time and you come out and you’ve paid your debt, so we’re not going to hold this over you,” he said.

Robinson says there are about 50,000 restrictions on people with criminal records. Some of those restrict people from being hired from certain lines of work. A somewhat ironic example he gave was of someone previously arrested and charged with selling marijuana in Seattle. That same person is now barred from marijuana stores, like Uncle Ike’s.

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The bonus to businesses that hire people formerly incarcerated is the commitment to the job, Robinson says. Total Wine & More, for example, shared data with the ACLU that shows the turnover rates are at least 12 percent lower for employees with criminal records.

“What Total Wine is finding … folks are saying no, I’m not leaving, this is the job that hired me. This is the job that gave me a chance.”

And there’s a positive for the community as well. Instead of simply releasing someone from prison with the clothes on their back and $100 and saying “good luck,” giving them a shot at a job or career will inevitably keep communities safer, Robinson says.

Listen to the entire interview below.