DETROIT, MI -- It doesn't take long to learn about Nicholas Buckinham's criminal record. It's just a few Internet searches away.

The Michigan Department of Corrections shares with the world through its publicly accessible online Offender Tracking Information System Buckingham's 2006 conviction for an Ingham County armed robbery he committed in 2005.

The MDOC recognizes Buckingham as prisoner no. 501075, a 33-year-old black man with a couple tattoos, some scars on his wrists and a brand on one arm that reads, "fire."

This record is one of the first things potential employers and landlords see if they perform a cursory check into Buckingham's background. It doesn't matter, he says, if they know he's not committed crime in a decade, created a youth group or is about a year away from obtaining a

Although his status says "discharged" in August 2014, Buckingham says he's still paying for his criminal past.

After initially being released in 2012, Buckingham said he returned to prison after being charged with marijuana possession.

"I have had the hardest time finding gainful employment," said Buckingham, who has an associate's degree and is about a year from graduating with a bachelor's degree in social work from Oakland University. "I have been turned away from numerous internships ... because of the felony conviction.

"I do great on the interviews, but once it comes down to the background check they have turned me away."

Buckingham is working with Michigan United, an activist organization, and Communication Workers of America, a 700,000-member union, to petition Detroit City Council and Mayor Mike Duggan to institute a new law that could increase employment access to convicted felons.

Dubbed the Fair Chances for All campaign, the effort aims to add onto "ban-the-box" legislation passed in 2010 that removed the question about one's criminal past from city applications.

The groups are proposing to expand the law to include private employers who receive tax breaks from the city. They would be required to remove segments of their application asking about criminal history, agree not to conduct background checks until after conditional employment is offered and would not exclude applicants with misdemeanors older than three years or felonies convictions older than seven years.

Kimberly Buddin, a legal fellow with the American Civil Liberties Union, was among those who spoke at a rally of more than 100 outside Detroit City Hall Wednesday. She

"Nationally, 25 percent of African-American adults have a felony record," Budding said. "In Detroit, that's over 100,000 people who have felony records that potentially exclude them from getting employment or housing."

Buddin, citing the National Employment Law Project, a labor advocacy group, added that Michigan's unemployment rate among black adults is 15.8 percent, three times the state and national rates.

"We're seeing a higher recidivism rate because people are coming from prison ... the majority of those people are coming to the city of Detroit," Buddin said. "But you've got all of these companies that have come in to support the revitalization and they have policies and practices where there not hiring people with criminal records."

Detroit Councilwoman Janee L. Ayers heads the government-led Returning Citizens Task Force, which aims to offer more opportunity to felons and reduce recidivism in Detroit.

She said the ACLU presented the task force proposed legislation that would be in line with the demands being made by Michigan United and Communication Workers of America. No new laws have yet been presented to City Council.

"If you're going to be operating inside of our city," Ayers said, "and you're looking to get dollars from citizens of our city, then why shouldn't we afford at least a pathway for all citizens to have the opportunity to work in our city."