From: Barking@The.Moon   
      
   > >Actually, even with this protection in place, people will still be denied   
   > >work, regardless.   
   > >   
   > >It's illegal to deny work based on gender, social off-work activities,   
   > >etc..., but work is denied for those same reasons every day.  All they   
   have   
   > >to do is find any reason not to hire you.  In reality, most states don't   
   > >even require you to give a reason why you choose not to hire someone.   
   When   
   > >court rolls around, they'll find a reason, whatever it may end up being   
   > >after they consult with their attorneys and "cook the books".   
   > >   
   > >Even if you win, and these companies are stopped from getting their way   
   > >legally, they'll just get their way illegally.  You won't be able to   
   prove   
   > >contrary, either.  All they need is a tiny discrepancy in the paperwork,   
   > >missed classes back in the past, a "better applicant"   
   somewhere...anything.   
   > >There are even books published on ways to find an applicant not worthy   
   for   
   > >hiring, while still being within the law.  The corporate machine is way,   
   way   
   > >ahead of you.   
   > >   
   >   
   > Hence, the reason I advised Critter to try harder to fit into society   
   > rather than trying to shove himself down society's throat.  If an   
   > employer WANTS you, a prison record doesn't mean much.  But if they   
   > don't already want you, they'll go with the prospective employee who   
   > doesn't have a felony on his record, I would think.   
      
      
   I'm not going for the throat. You got the wrong end in mind.   
      
   There are varying degrees of "privacy" as in "private ownership". If you are   
   an employer, you have a recognized responsibility to more parties than your   
   own bank account. You must answer to the challenges of EPA, OSHA, EEOC, etc.   
   This has been recognized for most of the past century. Companies like Boeing   
   form an almost separate branch of the government - are they truly "private"   
   ?   
      
   Knowing that there is a distinction, and knowing that there is currently an   
   overwhelming trend to keep ex-cons unemployed, considering the vast numbers   
   of felons in society, I think that the social and economic ramifications are   
   teetering on the catastrophic and there is only one solution, and that   
   solution does not constitute welfare programs or begging for a free ride.   
   What is required, to level the playing field for all employers, is protected   
   status from discrimination so that one employer does not get stuck with all   
   the felons which were refused by all the others. If everybody would take   
   just one or two, then there would be no problem. Unfortunately, many of them   
   are not even willing to take even a single felon, and therefore there is a   
   surplus of felons competing for the few employers who will accept them. It   
   also creates a class based social division which I believe would ulimately   
   lead to transient outbursts.   
      
   If you examine the history of race relations and employment discrimination,   
   you will find that there are much fewer race riots than in the past few   
   decades, mainly because blacks are assimilating and dissolving into the   
   mainstream at last. It will be that way for felons as well, it is only a   
   question of when. Society and progress will be constrained by our ability to   
   overcome this challenge in this century, and we will not progress as a   
   specie unless this problem has been solved.   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)