Ban the Box

Our Ban the Box campaign calls for removing the question and check box, “Have you been convicted by a court?” from applications for employment, housing, public benefits, insurance, loans, and other services. These questions mean lifelong discrimination and exclusion because of a past arrest or conviction record.

All of Us or None is recognized nationwide as the originator and the core of a Ban the Box movement that is sweeping the country. As of August 2015, over 150 cities or counties 35 states have removed questions about conviction history from their public employment applications – over 100 million people across the country live in a jurisdiction where the box has been banned in some form or another. Check out our Ban the Box historical timeline to see how we and our allies have developed this movement.

Campaigns to Ban the Box around the U.S. have been started by a wide variety of people: formerly-incarcerated people, neighborhood legal services agencies, City Council members, Mayors, other elected officials. For any of our campaigns to win, it’s crucial that we build broad coalitions that recognize the grassroots voice of people who have been directly affected by this discrimination. The short video Enough is Enough also describes the campaign.

To start a campaign in your area contact Oscar Flores, oscar@prisonerswithchildren.org or banthebox@prisonerswithchildren.org
or (415) 255-7036×328 for a hard copy of our Ban the Box Organizers’ Toolkit and more information.