Getting an occupational license can be time-consuming and expensive. For instance, becoming a barber in North Carolina takes approximately 722 days (comprised of 1,528 hours of schooling, one year of…
This past Wednesday, the Senate Judiciary committee approved House Bill 770, reports Lindsay Marchello in Carolina Journal. HB 770 is a bill that would make it easier for the citizens…
Monday, June 17, 2019, Jon Guze, director of legal studies for the John Locke Foundation and Bill Rowe, general counsel and deputy director of advocacy for the progressive N.C. Justice Center, put…
The Pew Charitable Trusts has an encouraging study out on “The Changing State of Recidivism: Fewer People Going Back to Prison.” The study analyzes trends in recidivism (i.e., when someone…
This is an outcome civil society should encourage. And one of the best ways for them to do so is to find work. Unfortunately, for too many professions, especially in…
Yesterday Nebraska Gov. Pete Ricketts signed the Occupational Reform Act (LB 299) into law, which incorporates reforms advocated by the John Locke Foundation for years.
Jon Sanders writes about a fascinating subject here: state licensing requirements that hurt people who are trying to re-enter society following a criminal conviction by finding a job and becoming…
A new report from the National Employment Law Project looks at how state occupational licensing laws make it difficult for people with arrest and conviction records to find work in…
North Carolina has 641 different disqualifications in state occupational licensing laws for having a criminal record. That's more than in all but one other Southeastern state.
At their next meeting, Asheville City Council members will likely approve, by way of their consent agenda, a ban the box proposal. So much can be said about this. One…
The N.C. Supreme Court has reversed the N.C. Court of Appeals and determined that a database collecting criminal records from courthouses across the state does not have to be treated…
By way of their consent agenda, the Buncombe County Commissioners are expected to approve a resolution that would deny parties with certain criminal backgrounds from setting up porn shops.