Former South Carolina Department of Corrections inmate Lester Young, who served time from 1992 to 2014, now works with Just Leadership USA (JLUSA), helping others with a criminal record turn their life around. Young serves as the Statewide Organizer for the organization and wrote a book, The Five Stages of Incarceration, about his experience. It was a chance run-in with Columbia, S.C., Mayor Steve Benjamin that led to a discussion about the need for the city to “Ban the Box.” Although a policy had already existed, Young pushed for an ordinance to make it a law, which recently came to fruition. The policy now also includes vendors who contract with the city, further expanding the job pool.
