During the past several months, states and cities as varied as Illinois; Nebraska; New Jersey; Indianapolis; Louisville, Ky.; and New Orleans and have adopted so-called Ban the Box laws. In total, some 70 cities and 13 states have passed such laws — most in the past four years.

The laws generally prohibit employers from asking applicants about criminal records as an initial step in the hiring process and from running criminal background checks until job seekers are considered serious candidates for an opening.

Studies have found that ex-offenders, particularly African-Americans, are far less likely to be called back for job interviews if they check the criminal history box on applications, even though research has shown that those possessing a criminal record are no more apt to commit a crime in the workplace than colleagues who have never been convicted.

Still, most of the Ban the Box laws have been enacted so recently that there is little conclusive evidence that they reduce recidivism or unemployment among ex-offenders. Surveys conducted in Minneapolis and Durham, N.C., after those cities passed laws showed that fewer job applicants had been rejected for public sector work because of a criminal conviction.

Ex-offenders, who have been at the fore in pushing for the laws, say preventing employers from inquiring about their criminal pasts in first interviews is critical in removing prejudices against them that make it tough to get work, find a place to live, regain their voting rights, receive federal student aid or obtain professional licenses.

Marilyn Scales, 52, a New York City resident convicted of selling drugs in the 1990s, said telling the truth on job forms had made her virtually unemployable, even though she was released from prison 17 years ago.

“When I answer that question honestly, I never get a call back,” she said. “I feel like I’m still paying for my crimes 20 years later.”