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Comment by narrator | Hacker News Reader

You would never be able to hire a felon for anything since on that theory, the felon had done something outside of work that being a criminal act, might scare someone at work who had to work around them, even though their behavior at work was perfect.

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I think there are some types of felons that probably don't get hired as managers after release, no matter how long it's been since their crime. For exactly the reason we're discussing. Who in their right mind would put a man who had been convicted of rape in charge of women? How much potential liability would the company be taking on if he were to happen to harm one of his reports? It would be astronomical. Who would hire a convicted embezzler as a CFO? I mean I'm sure it happens but I can only imagine it's the exception rather than the rule.

What if it was assault and battery or grand theft? Wouldn't someone feel justified that they were going to be punched in the face or have their phone stolen while around the person thus creating a hostile work environment? In this case, it was something someone said outside of work which is a whole other level of paranoia.

Are felons convicted of grand theft frequently able to find employ in banks, jewelers, or in other places where valuables might go missing? Or are they largely shut out of those industries based on their criminal histories?

Probably depends on the situation. Felony assault is serious business. It's normally not just a punch in the face. If someone committed a felony assault against a coworker while on the job, I expect it would be hard for them to get hired anywhere ever again. If it was against, say, a parent, or someone who was a rival in a love triangle, then perhaps . . . although probably never in a role like bouncer or security guard.

I’ll care about sexists losing jobs when society cares about felons not being able to find employment decades after the fact.

What had been happening instead was that sexists were failing upwards, until recently when employee power finally has a say in who works with them

Companies that exclude felons from job consideration may want to rethink their policy.

https://www.eeoc.gov/newsroom/bmw-pay-16-million-and-offer-j...

Ex-Felons have paid their debt to society, or at least get should be considered as such. And still, it's harder for them to get jobs.

They absolutely have not “paid their debt to society” unless they can undo the felony. You can’t pay back the debt of raping someone or stabbing them or killing them. Even if they let you out of jail.

Then why do we let them out of prison at all? It's certainly safer for us law abiding citizens if all the criminals are locked up forever. Even if there are a few false positives.

Even accepting your logic, not every felony involves stabbing or rape.

Excluding all felons from future employment would be a great way to create more crime.

By that logic, anyone who is proven then to be involved willingly or not in the false accusation and wrongful imprisonment of anyone should be punished by the harshest means physically possible. Absolutely no mercy.

Willfully? Absolutely. I think willfully trying to get someone convicted of a crime should carry 3x the punishment of that crime. It’s the deliberate misuse of state power to pervert the course of justice.

No forgiveness for Martha Stewart!

That's pretty much the case, though isn't it? Why else would companies do criminal background checks?

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