We noticed a column that appeared on Oct. 23 in the New York Times, A Plan to Cut Costs and Crime: End Hurdle to Job After Prison.

The New York Times Story, A Plan to Cut Costs and Crime: End Hurdle to Job After Prison, begins with a discussion of the ban-the-box movement and notes that

After more than 25 years of tough-on-crime laws and the incarceration of millions of low-level drug offenders, the effort is part of a bipartisan re-evaluation of the criminal justice system and reflects a growing concern that large numbers of people, especially African-Americans — who have been jailed disproportionately — remain marginalized from the work force and at greater risk of returning to crime.

The bipartisan effort to “decriminalize small amounts of marijuana, endeavors to expunge the criminal records of nonviolent offenders and reassessing parole and probation rules so violators are not automatically reincarcerated” comes from notable conservative Republicans, like Newt Gingrich and Rand Paul.

‘There’s been a shift in people away from wanting to get even,’ said Marc A. Levin, the policy director for Right on Crime, a conservative anti-crime group in Texas. ‘People are focused now on getting results. It really is a great benefit to public safety if ex-offenders are able to get jobs, find places to live and get occupational licenses — whether it’s from the perspective of the ex-offender or those of us who are going to live next to them.’