Illustration by David Carillet, via ShutterstockShould someone convicted of a felony have to admit that on the first application for a job? Several Democratic lawmakers don’t think so. They are pushing a bill that would prohibit a public or private employer from asking a prospective employee, on an initial application for employment, if they had been convicted of a crime .
An inmate gestures through the bars of his prison cell. (Photo: Sakhorn, Shutterstock)Gov. Jerry Brown has a lot riding on the November ballot. Voters will decide on his Proposition 57, which Brown says would let nonviolent inmates become eligible for parole sooner, create “good behavior” credits for state prisoners and let judges decide whether to try a juvenile as an adult. With California’s prisons crowded and facing a court-imposed population cap, and thousands of inmates housed outside the state, Brown says his measure makes sense.