Former felons won an important battle this past week against Apple. On Thursday Apple reversed course on a policy that discriminated against construction laborers who had been charged or convicted of a felony within the last seven years. DPR, the construction company overseeing the massive construction of Apple’s campus in Cupertino, California had several workers removed from the job site because being a charged or convicted felon did not “meet the owner’s standard.”

Apple’s policy caused a bit of an uproar when it was revealed to the public last week that they were barring workers with a felony record. For many felons, the only opportunity they have to obtain gainful employment and lead a normal life comes by way of construction and other manual labor jobs. When someone gets out of prison it is important that they are provided opportunities to deliver value and in turn gain the confidence they need. This self-confidence can serve to prevent them from returning to a criminal lifestyle.

Thankfully Apple has reversed course, but the policy’s retraction is likely a public relations move and probably was not part of a company-wide movement to purge discriminatory policies that target former criminals.

Apple released the following statement about the policy reversal to Apple insider:

We believe in opportunity for everyone, and Apple has never had a blanket ban on hiring people with felony convictions. It recently came to our attention that, as part of a background check process unique to the Apple Campus 2 construction project, a few applicants were turned away because they had been convicted of a felony within the past seven years. We recognize that this may have excluded some people who deserve a second chance. We have now removed that restriction and instructed our contractors on the project to evaluate all applicants equally, on a case by case basis, as we would for any role at Apple.

This policy is in no way unique to Apple. Private companies and many local, state, and some federal agencies employ policies that restrict the hiring of individuals previously charged or convicted of a felony.

Loyal readers of this weekly feature and listeners of the Felony Report on the Lions of Liberty Podcast know that I have a passion for restoring rights to convicted felons, especially those convicted of non-violent crimes. This restoration of rights includes the right to vote and most importantly the right to bear arms. An individual cannot be considered free if they are not granted the same legal standing as the rest of society when it comes to defending life.

The intention of this article is not to petition the government for private companies to be forced to hire convicted felons or to seek government intervention in the hiring process. Private companies should be permitted to hire the employees that best fit the needs of the company. Rather, the intent of this article is to identify rampant hypocrisy having to do with discrimination in this country. Business and political leaders are quick to jump on their soap box to demand “equal rights” for oppressed minority groups, but they rarely advocate for fair treatment and equal opportunity for convicted felons who have served the time deemed appropriate for the crime they committed.

In today’s society felons learn the hard way that one mistake can completely shatter any hope an individual has for a normal life.

It is ironic that this news comes from Apple. This is a company that claims be the poster child for inclusion. Their CEO, Tim Cook, spoke out last week in opposition to Indiana’s passage of a “religious freedom” law. He wrote the following in response to Indiana Senate Bill 101:

These bills rationalize injustice by pretending to defend something many of us hold dear. They go against the very principles our nation was founded on, and they have the potential to undo decades of progress toward greater equality

Wasn’t this nation founded upon second chances? The first immigrants to this country were people who needed a fresh start and they came to America for that opportunity. It is amazing to me that Apple – the beacon of innovation in the supposed land of the free – could be so blind as to turn construction workers away based on their criminal history alone. No interview. No aptitude test. Just the check of a box, and they were shown the door. We are all humans after all. Just because someone has been locked in a cage for fifteen years does not make them an animal.

Why do we accept this inhumane behavior?

In the coming months and years as the liberty movement grows and more non-violent drug laws are overturned, more and more non-violent felons will be released from their cages. Their past behaviors may have been immoral or non-productive and it is not my place or intention to defend the choices those individuals made. But if I ever own a company that is looking for employees, then felons will surely have the same opportunity as all other applicants.

Check out the full archive of Felony Friday!

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