Ban the Box in Higher Education: Lessons From Louisiana on Changing Laws and Leading Movements

• Author: Syrita Steib,Annie Phoenix
• Published date: 01 May 2021
• Date: 01 May 2021
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.1177/1043986221999883
• Subject Matter: Essay

https://doi.org/10.1177/1043986221999883

Journal of Contemporary Criminal Justice

2021, Vol. 37(2) 293 –301

© The Author(s) 2021

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DOI: 10.1177/1043986221999883

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Essay

Ban the Box in Higher

Education: Lessons From

Louisiana on Changing Laws

and Leading Movements

Annie Phoenix1 and Syrita Steib2

Abstract

In 2017, Louisiana became the first state to pass legislation to remove criminal history

questions from college applications, commonly known as ban the box in higher

education. This victory hinged on the work of two advocates, Syrita Steib, Founder

and Executive Director of Operation Restoration, and Annie Phoenix, PhD student

at Tulane University and Co-founder of Operation Restoration. The following article

is a reflection on the process to pass ban the box in higher education in Louisiana and

lessons learned to support others to engage in criminal legal system reform. We hope

that this article serves as inspiration for other women impacted by incarceration,

and nonimpacted supporters to use their voices to fight for liberation and to end

the collateral consequences that prevent people with convictions from accessing

education and other opportunities.

Keywords

formerly incarcerated leaders, women, policy change, ban the box, criminal

convictions, college access

For this article, we will focus on our policy work and particularly the efforts in 2017

to pass Louisiana Act 276: “Ban the Box” in Higher Education, making Louisiana the

first state to legally prevent colleges from asking about criminal history in college

admissions. We hope to capture the experience of writing and passing this bill and to

1Operation Restoration, Tulane University, New Orleans, LA, USA

2Operation Restoration, Louisiana State University Health and Science Center, New Orleans, LA, USA

Corresponding Author:

Annie Phoenix, Tulane University, Operation Restoration, 1450 Poydras Street Suite 2260,

New Orleans, LA 70112, USA.

Email: annie@or-nola.org

999883CCJXXX10.1177/1043986221999883Journal of Contemporary Criminal JusticePhoenix and Steib

research-article2021