he notion of a nation where ex-offenders who have served their sentences can go on to productive lives has taken a beating since the states embraced punitive policies barring convicted felons from scores of jobs and professions, regardless of whether their crimes have any bearing on the work. These policies confine ex-offenders to society's margins, making it likely that they will return to the prisons, which are already filled with recidivists.

This problem is being underscored at the moment in Delaware, where State Senator Karen Peterson has introduced a forward-looking bill that would permit state licensing boards to exclude ex-offenders only from jobs that are "substantially related" to the crimes that sent them to prison.

There is reason to bar former drug addicts from working in pharmacies or bar sex offenders from working in day care centers or schools. But Delaware employs a punitive policy that excludes ex-prisoners from virtually every occupation requiring a state license, like dentistry, chiropractic, engineering, respiratory therapy and real estate.

The blanket exclusion was adopted after complaints about the previous system, which left some licensing decisions for individual state boards to make on a case-by-case basis. Under that system, rich, well-connected ex-prisoners were much more likely than poor applicants to be granted licenses. The result was to bar many former inmates needlessly from more than 35 jobs and professions.

If the Peterson bill is passed, the Delaware licensing boards are likely to see that no case can be made for barring a rehabilitated ex-offender from, say, landscape architecture. Lifting these senselessly punitive bans would make it easier for ex-offenders to stay out of prison.

Subscribe Today: Home Delivery of The Times from $2.90/wk.