Is the Census Bureau Discriminating Against Minorities?

A lawsuit accuses the government agency of unfair hiring practices. — By Nick Baumann, Mother Jones

In America, you're supposed to be innocent until proven guilty. Tell that to some of the four million people seeking jobs with the US Census, who say they were rejected for crimes they didn't commit.

With the unemployment rate close to 10 percent, relatively high-paying census jobs are much sought after. Census-takers can earn more than $17 an hour for going door-to-door to gather data; other employees make even more. But there's a problem with the process. The Census Bureau runs every applicant's name through an FBI database. If the database shows the job seeker has ever been arrested, the application is put on hold, and the Census Bureau sends a letter giving the job seeker 30 days to prove that the arrest was no big deal.

Last month, two people sued the government after being denied census jobs when their applications were flagged for arrests. They argue that relying on a database of arrests—many of which never led to convictions—discriminates against black, Latino, and Native American applicants, who are statistically more likely to be arrested. Read the full story at Mother Jones.