NOTE: Mr. Ross, recently stated that he was going to take a break, however…. he just couldn’t resist. (Ed.)

The other night I received an e mail containing an article from The National Center for Public Policy Research. The article was entitled, EEOC Warns Employers: If You Don’t Want to Hire Felons, You Need a Good Reason.

The article contained a link to the webpage of the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission where it was stated, “There is no Federal law that clearly prohibits an employer from asking about arrest and conviction records. However, using such records as an absolute measure to prevent an individual from being hired could limit the employment opportunities of some protected groups and thus cannot be used in this way.”

So basically you cannot hold a felons criminal record against them when applying for a job. It appears that they are more worried about discriminating against certain ‘protected groups’ than they are about the rights of the employers from hiring a convicted felon.

While I believe that if a person has done their time and is, as they say, rehabilitated, they deserve the same chance at obtaining a job as anyone else, I do have a problem with this position.

You see, by the very fact that a person is a convicted felon it has been proven that they have broken a law. Yet, I may be denied the right to travel on an international flight because I may be on some terrorist watch list, just because I write articles condemning the actions of my government, even though I have committed no crime.

So, me, a law abiding citizen, may be discriminated against for my viewpoint, yet a criminal may not be discriminated against because of their criminal record. Does that sound fair to you? I didn’t think so.

I have a clean criminal record, having never been arrested, yet my right to travel freely may be denied because of my choice to exercise my first amendment right. Yet a criminal, who by their very record has proven that they may be a thief, cannot have their proven record used as the basis for denying them a job.

Has our country been turned upside down where the rights of a law abiding citizen can be denied, while the rights of a criminal are stood up for? As Fox News is so fond of saying, “I report, you decide.”

“[T]o preserve liberty, it is essential that the whole body of the people always possess arms, and be taught alike, especially when young, how to use them.” – Federal Farmer

~ The Author ~
Neal Ross can be reached for comments at bonsai@syix.com. Visit Neal’s Blog at http://www.zombie-slayer.com/neal