Rev. Al Sharpton Joins Eric Holder in Weighing in Against Fingerprint Checks

 

The following letter was issued today by the National Action Network. 

June 9, 2016

Senate President Stephen Sweeney and Speaker Vincent Prieto

125 West State Street

Trenton, NJ 08608

Dear Senate President Sweeney and Assembly Speaker Prieto,

As New Jersey continues to consider measures that allow greater access to employment and economic opportunities for your residents, I urge you to ensure that whatever system you approve does not create or continue needless barriers that prevent people from accessing the jobs they need. Among the areas that must carefully be considered is how one’s background is screened before they can provide services to the general public.

Sadly, our criminal justice system remains unequal and unfair for far too many Americans and that must change. Communities of color today continue to be disproportionately impacted because they are arrested at a higher rate. These communities are then prevented from access to basic rights like voting, housing, and employment.  We continue to be affected by inequality and barriers to entry because people of color are much more likely to be arrested, face tougher charges, and receive harsher sentences than their white peers.

We know that the reliance on the FBI’s Criminal Justice Information System (CJIS) means potential employers make decisions based on incomplete information because of the lack of complete records provided by states and localities. In any case, these records overwhelmingly contain information about arrests rather than convictions, and today, members of minority communities continue to face disproportionate attention from law enforcement.

As such, a fingerprint-based background check for employment is a form of discrimination that highlights the ethnic disparities and racial inequities in the criminal justice system. Just recently, former Attorney General Eric Holder, wrote this body discussing the need to use other, less discriminatory methods for these decisions.  General Holder noted that fingerprint-based systems were “not designed to be used to determine whether or not someone is eligible for a work opportunity.”  He went on to say that “relying on it for that purpose is both unwise and unfair."  I fully share his concerns.

I encourage you to not pass unnecessary and discriminatory fingerprinting requirements that stand in the way of New Jersey residents earning money to care for their families and contribute to their community.

Sincerely,

Rev. Al Sharpton 

Source: Mercury