Tag: Root & Rebound

New Jersey puts “fair chance housing” on the national agenda

People with a record frequently experience challenges in obtaining or maintaining housing. For those who have been incarcerated, on supervision, charged, and/or arrested, the background check for rental applications can be a persistent obstacle. Lack of stable housing is a major roadblock to successful reintegration into the community or the pursuit of social and economic opportunities. It is therefore encouraging that states have begun to enact laws limiting record-based disqualifications in housing decisions. On June 18, New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy signed into law the Fair Chance in Housing Act, the most rigorous state legislation to date limiting consideration of criminal records in housing decisions. During a ceremony to commemorate Juneteenth, he described the new law as a step to “level what has been for too long an uneven playing field when it comes to access to housing,” explaining that it will bar landlords from asking about criminal history in most instances. The NAACP New Jersey State Conference, Latino Action Network, Fair Share Housing Center, and New Jersey Religious Action Center of Reform Judaism led organizational advocacy for the measure. Senator Troy Singleton, one of the bill’s primary sponsors, cited the “staggering amount of data on the national level that […]

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Organizations call on Congress to remove record-related barriers to small business relief

A bipartisan group of civil rights, advocacy, and business organizations, including CCRC, are calling on Congress to take immediate action to remove barriers based on arrest or conviction history for small business owners seeking COVID-19 federal relief.  This is an issue we have been covering in depth in recent posts.  This call to action—available in PDF and reprinted below—is issued by the following organizations (with additional sign-ons welcome; contact us here): American Civil Liberties Union Chicago Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Collateral Consequences Resource Center College & Community Fellowship Community Legal Services of Philadelphia #cut50 Drug Policy Alliance FreedomWorks Georgia Justice Project Interfaith Action for Human Rights Jewish Council for Public Affairs Justice & Accountability Center of Louisiana Justice Action Network Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights Main Street Alliance National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers National Employment Law Project Out For Justice Public Interest Law Center Reproductive Justice Inside Root & Rebound Safer Foundation Washington Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights and Urban Affairs Women Against Registry *Note: the letter was originally issued on April 10 and was last updated on April 17.

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