Brief in Support of Appellants
9th Circuit Court of Appeals
In this amicus brief, we argue state licensing schemes that categorically bar individuals with prior criminal convictions from holding various professions are irrational. These restrictions—which bar individuals with prior convictions from finding gainful employment—are often unrelated to the jobs at hand; a person convicted of littering would be required to wait ten years before being able to obtain an EMT certification in California. In the name of rational basis review, courts should not uphold these policies that contribute to recidivism and hamper reentry efforts.
Filed with the DKT Liberty Project, Cato Institute, Collateral Consequences Resource Center, Law Enforcement Action Partnership, the Macarthur Justice Center, the R Street Institute, the Sentencing Project, and the National Association Of Criminal Defense Lawyers.
Clause 40 Foundation also thanks Jessica Amunson and Caroline Cease of Jenner & Block for their pro bono work on this case.
