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Despite “Ban the Box” Laws, Most Prisoners Still Unemployed a Year After Release
Loaded on Jan. 1, 2024
published in Prison Legal News
January, 2024, page 48
In July 2023, the U.S. unemployment rate stood at 3.6%, among the lowest levels seen in 60 years. With nearly two openings for everyone unemployed, all that most Americans need to get a job is to apply. Unless, of course, we’re talking about people out of prison a year …
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More from this issue:
- See No Evil, Hear No Evil, Treat No Evil: Centurion and the Curse of For-Profit Prison Healthcare, by J.D. Schmidt
- From the Editor, by Paul Wright
- $7.75 Million Paid by San Diego County After Jail Detainee Severely Injured in Fall from Top Bunk
- Alabama DOC Proves Truly “Heartless”
- Misadventures in Mail Censorship, by Robert Schaeffer
- Hear Us Now? Hearing Impaired Tennessee Prisoners Secure Injunction
- Private Prisons Hold Almost 100,000 Prisoners, 8% of Total U.S. Prison Population
- Fifth BOP Employee Sentenced in California “Rape Club,” Another Lawsuit Filed
- Another Report Verifies That Prison Deaths Soared During COVID-19 Pandemic
- Record-Setting $7 Million Settlement Caps LaSalle’s Legacy at Texarkana Jail, by Matthew Clarke
- 153 Killed in Custody in Salvadorian Gang Crackdown
- Washington Agencies Sanctioned for Discovery Violations Reach $3.1 Million Settlement with Disabled Woman Allegedly Abused at State Sanctioned Home
- Former L.A. County Jail Detainees Denied Promised Sentence Credits
- N.H.’s First Black Sheriff Charged With Embezzling $19,000
- Former Florida Guard Gets Five Years for Fatal Assault on Mentally Ill Prisoner
- Hurdles to Voting for Ex-Felons Rise in Tennessee and Virginia, Fall in Mississippi
- “Brushed It Under the Rug”: Investigation Refutes Florida Sheriff’s Story About Jail Detainee’s Death
- Corizon Health Bankruptcy Delayed by Revelation of Attorney’s Affair With Mediator
- Virginia Leads the Nation in K-9 Attacks on Prisoners
- Nearly $75 Million Class-Action Settlement Reached For Delayed Releases from N.Y.C. Jails
- Officials of Pennsylvania Guards Union Charged with Theft
- $10,000 Verdict for Fired Guard’s Failure to Protect Louisiana Prisoner From Stabbing, by David Reutter
- $9,000 Settlement for Florida Prisoner’s Retaliation and Excessive Force Claims Against Guards, by David Reutter
- Wisconsin Supreme Court: Jail Time Must Be Credited When Charge Causing Jailing Read in At Sentencing, by Matthew Clarke
- The Good That Prisoner Rights Lawyers Do
- Oklahoma Prisoner Uses COVID-19 Stimulus Check to Overturn Conviction
- New Head of “Constitutional Sheriffs” Calls MLK a “Thug”
- Eleventh Circuit Addresses First Amendment, Due Process Interests in Georgia Prisoner Emails
- Second Circuit Strips Qualified Immunity from Connecticut Officials Who Ignored Prisoner’s Scalp Lesions, by David Reutter
- Long Waits for Montana Jail Detainees Needing Competency Restoration Services
- West Virginia Pretrial Detainee’s Lawsuit for Sexual Abuse Survives Dismissal Stage, by David Reutter
- Eighth Circuit Says Arkansas Prisoner’s Medical Incapacity May Excuse PLRA Exhaustion Failure
- Deaths While Incarcerated Up 18% in Louisiana
- Despite “Ban the Box” Laws, Most Prisoners Still Unemployed a Year After Release
- Seventh Circuit Reinstates Illinois Prisoner’s Claim Against Kitchen Supervisor for Scalding From Spilled Hot Water
- George Floyd’s Killer Stabbed 22 Times in Federal Prison in Arizona
- Former New Mexico Guard Convicted of Sexually Assaulting Prisoner, Suit Filed
- Ed Mead: Rest in Power, by Paul Wright
- Multiple Staffers Arrested at Georgia’s Clayton County Jail
- The “Lunacy Zone:” How Mississippi Jails 700 Mentally Ill People a Year Without Charges
- Second Circuit Revives N.Y. Prisoner’s Suit Over Sing Sing Fire, 11 Other Prisoners Split $220,000 Settlement
- Maine Ends Prison Gerrymandering
- Fifth Circuit Revives Suit Against Texas Jailers Who Tasered Detainee Suffering Epileptic Seizure, by Douglas Ankney
- West Virginia High Court Decides Medical Practice Liability Act Not Applicable to Prison System, by David Reutter
- Nevada Prisoner Wins Injunction Requiring DOC to Provide Exercise Despite Guard Shortage
- Seventh Circuit Slams Illinois Civil Commitment Program but Reverses Injunction
- Florida Prisoners Not Required to File Rulemaking Petition to Satisfy PLRA Exhaustion Requirement, by David Reutter
- News in Brief
More from these topics:
- FBI Approves Rapid DNA Workflow for CODIS, Aug. 1, 2026. DNA Testing/Samples, Databases, Forensic Sciences, Evidence - Integrity/Reliability of, Scientific Testimony or Evidence.
- Detainee Deaths Went Unreported at Dallas County Jail, July 1, 2026. Jail Misconduct, Statistics/Trends, Databases, Public Records.
- Guaranteed Income Helps People Leaving Jail and Prison, and That Helps Everyone, May 1, 2026. Crime/Demographics, Prisoner Privileges, housing, jobs, Restrictions, discrimination, Probation, Parole & Supervised Release, Fines.
- Uncounted COVID Deaths Reveal a Troubling Truth About Official Death Records, May 1, 2026. Racial Discrimination, Medical Records, COVID-19, Statistics/Trends, Databases.
- Swabbed at Booking, Searched for Life: How Pre-Conviction DNA Collection Built a Genetic Mass Surveillance System, April 1, 2026. DNA Testing/Samples, Databases, Effects of Mass Incarceration.
- Labor Coalition in Minnesota Demands Disney Contractor Pay Prisoners Minimum Wage, Jan. 1, 2026. Prison Industries, Prison Labor, Advocacy, Contractor Liability, jobs.
- How I Learned to Transcribe Braille in Prison, Jan. 1, 2026. Prison Labor, Education, Rehabilitation/Recidivism, jobs.
- An AI Model from Securus Aims to Expand Phone Call Monitoring, Dec. 1, 2025. Databases, Telephone Rates, Telephone Monitoring, Electronic Surveillance, Securus.
- Two Re-Entry Non-Profit Leaders in Tennessee and Massachusetts Accused of Criminal Charges, Nov. 1, 2025. housing, jobs, halfway houses, Health care, Restrictions, discrimination, Bribery/Extortion/Theft, Prior Conviction/Sentence/Incarceration, Bank Fraud/Robbery/Theft, Mandatory Minimums.
- Texas Social Workers Challenge Blanket Denial of State Occupational License Based on Youthful Assault Convictions, Aug. 1, 2025. Post-release, ex-offender, re-entry, jobs, Restrictions, discrimination.

