{"id":22532,"date":"2020-10-22T06:00:28","date_gmt":"2020-10-22T06:00:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/?p=22532"},"modified":"2020-10-31T14:41:34","modified_gmt":"2020-10-31T14:41:34","slug":"how-even-a-casual-brush-with-the-law-can-permanently-mar-a-young-mans-life-especially-if-hes-black","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/how-even-a-casual-brush-with-the-law-can-permanently-mar-a-young-mans-life-especially-if-hes-black\/","title":{"rendered":"How even a casual brush with the law can permanently mar a young man’s life \u2013 especially if he’s Black"},"content":{"rendered":"

Gary Painter<\/a>, University of Southern California<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n

George Floyd\u2019s death<\/a> highlighted how even a minor alleged infraction \u2013 in his case, over a fake $20 bill \u2013 can lead to a fatal interaction with law enforcement.<\/p>\n

As a result, a coalition of advocacy organizations, criminal justice reform advocates and everyday citizens have called for cities<\/a> to take a wide range of actions<\/a> to reduce the power and authority<\/a> of local police departments.<\/p>\n

But loss of life isn\u2019t the only potential consequence of a brush with the law. Even a single arrest, without conviction, can be devastating to the rest of a young man\u2019s life \u2013 especially if he\u2019s Black \u2013 particularly in terms of employment and earnings. And African American men are much more likely to get arrested than their white counterparts.<\/p>\n

My own recent research<\/a> has been exploring what employers can do to help overcome the barriers associated with arrests and the stigma of incarceration.<\/p>\n

Devastating consequences<\/h2>\n

One in three Americans<\/a> has been arrested by the age of 23, but the stats get a lot worse if you are a Black man.<\/p>\n

A young African American is seven times more likely<\/a> to get arrested than a white peer. By the time they are 23, Black men are at a 49% risk of getting arrested<\/a> and six times more likely to be incarcerated than white men. As of 2010, one-third of African American adult males<\/a> had a felony conviction on their records, compared with 8% of all U.S. adults.<\/p>\n

While the data on the system\u2019s disproportionate impact<\/a> on Black men are bad enough, it doesn\u2019t end there. Any interaction with the justice system, even for a misdemeanor or arrest without conviction, can have devastating consequences for the individual.<\/p>\n

More than 60% of formerly incarcerated individuals remain unemployed one year after being released<\/a>, and those who do find jobs make 40% less in pay annually.<\/p>\n

Research shows that a criminal record of any sort \u2013 including arrest without conviction \u2013 reduced the likelihood of a job offer by almost 50%<\/a>. The impact is substantially larger for Black job applicants.<\/p>\n

And while Black men are affected most by these problems, it\u2019s a national problem that affects many young men and women across the United States. More than 10 million young adults<\/a> age 16-24 were neither working nor in school in June. While it\u2019s unclear how many of them are \u201cdisconnected\u201d as a result of an arrest record \u2013 the pandemic has certainly put many of them out of work<\/a> \u2013 research suggests an arrest<\/a> is a key factor<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The effect on the U.S. economy as a whole is significant, with the underemployment of formerly incarcerated individuals leading to a loss<\/a> of US$78 billion to $87 billion in gross domestic product in 2014.<\/p>\n

Finding solutions<\/h2>\n

Local and state agencies have passed legislation<\/a> designed to prevent hiring practices that discriminate against individuals with criminal records.<\/p>\n

These efforts include \u201cban the box<\/a>,\u201d which removes the question asking about a criminal record from job applications, and other \u201cfair chance\u201d hiring<\/a> policies aimed at preventing employers from explicitly asking about an applicant\u2019s criminal history.<\/p>\n