The movement to help get ex-cons work

Banning the box — removing from job applications the question about having a criminal record — affects black people and other minorities more than it affects white Americans. That’s partly because enforcement of drug laws and harsh mandatory sentencing laws have had a disproportionate effect on people of color, with black inmates accounting for nearly 1 million of America’s 2.3 million prisoners. That’s about 40 percent, compared with the 13 percent black population in the U.S. Regardless of race, a person’s chances of finding a job after release from prison will undoubtedly rise if baning the box spreads. And that could mean better lives for many of the 700,000 men and women released from U.S. prisons and jails every year. David Ariosto has the story.