Through the experience of one formerly incarcerated woman looking for work, this article explores how a feeling of captivity resonates not only with the imprisoned but also with the recently released. Burch, M. (2019). Captive afterlives in the age of mass conviction. History and Anthropology, 30(5), 515–520. https://doi.org/10.1080/02757206.2019.1638778

Through an up-close look at the daily interactions of hiring managers, workforce development professionals, and job-seekers with felony convictions in Southern California, this book explores how a convergence of policy, law, and profit drives the use of criminal background checks in hiring. Burch, Melissa. The Criminal Record Complex: Risk, Race, Capital, and Hiring in America. Princeton University Press, 2025.

Do Ban the Box policies really work? This article compares data from before and after BtB policies were implemented in Minnesota to show how attitudes and practices among hiring managers have stayed fairly similar. Employers rarely face consequences for noncompliance and can use criminal background checks and employment history as a substitute for a criminal record question on an application. Schneider, L. E., Vuolo, M., Lageson, S. E., & Uggen, C. (2021). Before and after ba

Many colleges use criminal record history in their admission processes and can deny a student admission purely based on a criminal conviction. However, many of the reasons why administrators used criminal background screening on applicants have no supporting evidence for their effectiveness. This article presents four lines for additional research: whether a college education can reduce recidivism, whether collecting criminal records on applications discriminates against cert

The human resources department of businesses have adopted criminal background checks as a tool for screening job applicants even though U.S. law does not require it. An employer can be punished if an employee commits harm while on the job and the hiring process didn’t show “reasonable care” toward the employee’s potential for harm. Because it’s unclear what “reasonable care” means, HR departments often turn to criminal background checks as a cheap and easy method for avoiding

Calling for a fundamental shift in the accessibility of criminal records, this piece offers a concrete proposal for how to legally reconceptualize criminal records, arguing that current remedial measures like ban the box and certificates of relief largely miss the point. Criminal records, says the author, should not be available to the general public and only in rare cases should certain employers be able to run background checks. Provides a helpful overview of the growth of

Many believe that a background check is necessary to create and maintain a safe workplace. The underlying assumption is that it can...

All of Us or None v. Hamrick In May 2021, the appellate court in California ruled in All of Us or None v. Hamrick that trial courts in...

There is very little consistency in how questions about criminal records are asked on job applications, or what information is requested....

The carceral state works with the private sector to carry out the work of social control, extending risk-based logics far beyond prison...

The Bureau of Justice Statistics provides detailed information on how criminal record checks are conducted in the United States and its...

This fascinating (though outdated) report from the National Task Force on the Commercial Sale of Criminal Justice Information examines...

To what extent do mandatory checks required by government lead to an overall increase in background checks performed by employers? This study finds that this kind of "bleed" doesn't really happen, but that employers do request "higher levels of disclosure" than is required by law (i.e. the legislation requires checking for sex-related offenses and instead they check for all crimes). The study also attributes the growth in nonmandatory background checks to the increase in empl

More robust and clear guidelines and policies are needed to eliminate discrimination against people with criminal records in housing....

Because errors in background checks are common and have life-changing consequences, federal and state elected officials should do more...

Employers are continuing to increase their surveillance of potential and current employees. This article on the Society for Human...

There is a strong need for oversight and regulation of data compiled and disseminated by the myriad criminal legal systems in the U.S....

The stigma of criminalization takes on new meaning and heightened consequence when criminal records are online, easily accessible to all...

The production and use of criminal records has increased dramatically in recent years. This article provides a thorough review of the...

How did criminal records go from decentralized collections of local documents used primarily by police, to nationally integrated...