Author: Todd A. Berger

Todd A. Berger is an Assistant Professor of Law and Director of the Criminal Defense Clinic at Syracuse University College of Law. He was previously the founding Managing Attorney of the Federal Prisoner Reentry Project at Rutgers School of Law-Camden. His practice and scholarship are primarily concentrated in the areas criminal defense representation and the collateral consequences of criminal convictions.

Special interests succeed in watering down NJ Opportunity to Compete Act

In updating our book on New Jersey Collateral Consequences, J.C. Lore and I analyzed the provisions of New Jerseys’ new Opportunity to Compete Act, signed by Governor Christie in August and scheduled to become effective on March 15, 2015.   The Act applies a ban-the-box requirement to most public and private employers with more than 15 employees.  Having followed the bill through its passage in the House last spring, we were disappointed but not surprised to see that there were a number of employer-friendly amendments added to the Act just prior to final action in the Senate, with the result that there is a great deal of uncertainty about what the law actually accomplishes.  The important provisions omitted from the bill in the Senate, after lobbying by business and industry groups, included A prohibition on considering certain types of criminal histories, including conviction records after a certain number of years; A private right of action against employers; A definition of “initial employment application process” that permits inspection of criminal records at an earlier stage of the employment process; A requirement that an employer make a good faith effort to discuss the applicants criminal record if it is of concern; and A provision permitting negligent hiring […]

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