<h3>How does this affect someone who has already been charged with a felony in Ohio?</h3>

Felony conviction in Ohio carries a myriad of consequences. Some of those consequences- such as employment licensure restrictions- are intended. Others- such as forced welfare dependency- are not. Although research done on the topic is spotty and inconclusive at best, data analyzed by Harry Holzer between the years 2005 and 2007 suggests that felony conviction severely limits a person’s lifetime earnings and ability to find adequate employment:

“These studies […] have some common findings. For one thing, they all show very low levels of employment and earnings among ex-offenders, with only 30-40 percent generally showing any employment per quarter, and with quarterly earnings often averaging $2000 or so among those working.21 But this seems to be true before as well as after incarceration for most individuals.” (Holzer 2007 p.21)

Considering the age at which someone is most likely to be charged with a violent or property related crime is 18 years in Ohio, the lowered wages before incarceration might be attributed to the age of the defendant at the time of the crime committed. The ‘child’ might not have had chance to fully ingratiate himself into the employment system before his time of incarceration.

Decreased wages and other unintended consequences keep convicted persons from experiencing a full range of employment opportunities on a small scale, but also keep them from fully experiencing society as law abiding citizens later on in life. They are inhibited, to say the least, from participating in the local economy and may rely on other social means to support their families. Thereby placing the financial burden again on the society in which they are poorly integrated.

Employers are afraid to hire felons of any sort:

• When employers were asked whether they would consider hiring someone who had been convicted of a misdemeanor offense, 84 percent responded in the affirmative.
• Almost two-thirds of employers surveyed in several major metropolitan areas, including Boston, revealed that they would not knowingly hire an ex-offender.
• 23 percent of employers say they would consider hiring someone with a drug-related felony, 7 percent say they would consider hiring someone with a property-related felony conviction and less than 1 percent of employers say they would consider hiring someone with a violent felony on their record.
(Fahey, Roberts, and Engel p.2)

Research on recidivism rates clearly does not warrant this type of fear. According to the article Scarlet Letters and Recidivism, recidivism rates reach .05% after approximately six to seven years have passed since a person’s last conviction. (Kurlychek and Brame p.493) A person’s overall chance of re-offending is highest in the three years after release from probation or prison which might be, on average, six to seven years after they committed their offense. Another finding noted by Kurlychek and Brame’s states that an individuals likelihood of offending is low, regardless of past criminal behavior, once the person reaches the age of 25. According to modern day psychology, 25 years old is the true age of reason, when the brain has reached physiological maturity. In light of this data, employers who see criminal offenses on a potential employees background check are misled. The relevancy of the information contained there decreases as time passes.