ACROSS THE AISLE

Kochs Team With Obama to Help Ex-Cons

Effort to "ban the box" on job applications.

Koch Industries, Facebook, and Google's parent company Alphabet announced Monday that they will assist the Obama administration in helping ex-convicts find employment. Executives from 19 major companies—including the aforementioned trio—signed a pledge Monday at the White House agreeing to "ban the box," i.e., end the practice of asking job applicants whether they have a criminal record. Despite a reputation for championing conservative causes, the libertarian billionaires have become bankrollers of major criminal justice reform efforts over the past several years. A narrower effort to "ban the box" in federal government job applications have garnered the support of Republicans like Sen. Mike Lee of Utah.