"People with criminal records now confront unprecedented employment challenges that are not solely the result of a weak labor market. States, for example, have collectively adopted more than 30,000 laws that significantly restrict access to employment and other basic rights and benefits for people with criminal records, according to an exhaustive analysis2 by the American Bar Association."

Source

Rodriguez, Michelle Natividad; Farid, Elizabeth; and Porter, Nicole, "State Reforms Promoting Employment of People with Criminal Records: 2010-11 Legislative Round-Up," National Employment Law Project, the National H.I.R.E. Network, and the Sentencing Project (December 2011), p. 1.
http://www.nelp.org/page/-/SC…