The Baltimore Sun from Baltimore, Maryland • A2

THE BALTIMORE SUN NEWS TUESDAY, MARCH 11, 2014 Council OKs 'ban the box' bill It limits employers' ability to ask about criminal records "We can get living wages for our families. Right now, I'm ready to go take on the work world" Davon Neverdon, 40, who said he's been unable to get a good-paying job since he was charged with first-degree murder 20 years ago ing Baltimore. It's hard to do that when you have a large segment of the population excluded from gainful employment." But Elizabeth Torphy-Donzella, general counsel for the Maryland Chamber of Commerce, said she's worried the bill will amount to little more than a waste of time for both employers and potential employees. "It presents real problems for businesses in Baltimore City," she said. "It still requires a recruiter to go all the way through the recruiting process before asking about a criminal record.

You could have someone with a theft or embezzlement conviction applying to a bank. The recruiting process is costly. It's time-consuming. The notion that in Baltimore City, employers couldn't ask questions of someone manifestly not qualified is stunning to me." A crowd of supporters celebrated after council members gave the bill preliminary approval, saying it would help tear down the barriers to employment. Backers said they believe some ex-convicts could win over potential employers through a job interview they wouldn't otherwise get.

Davon Neverdon, 40, of Northeast Baltimore said he's been unable to get a good-paying job since he was charged with first-degree murder 20 years ago. He said he's had to work two or three jobs at a time, mainly in warehouses and through temp agencies, at low wages. "This is second only to the birth of a child," he said of the council's vote. "We can get living wages for our families. Right now, By Luke Broadwater The Baltimore Sun Baltimore's City Council voted unanimously Monday to ban employers from asking about an applicant's criminal record until after a job interview a sweeping requirement that supporters say will make it easier for ex-convicts to get jobs.

But some businesses have objected to the proposed law, arguing it would cost employers time and money spent on job candidates who aren't appropriate employees. The council amended the bill to exempt "facilities servicing minors or vulnerable adults" to address concerns that, for instance, employers would not be able to screen out sex offenders seeking jobs at day care centers. The legislation nicknamed "ban the box" after the criminal record box on a job application still needs a final vote before advancing to the desk of Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake. A top aide said she is planning to sign it. "It's the most progressive 'ban the box' legislation out of any city in the country," said the bill's lead sponsor, Councilman Nick J.

Mosby. "We're talking about grow I'm ready to go take on the work world. The sky's the limit." Ten states and 53 cities and counties have passed such laws, according to the National Employment Law Project The advocacy group for low-wage workers estimates that 65 million Americans one in four adults have a criminal record. Mosby has said he was prompted to sponsor the legislation because of the many calls he gets from former convicts desperate for work. More than half of offenders released from Maryland's prisons return to live in Baltimore, he said.

His bill expands to private employers the city's 2007 law banning the box from applications for government jobs. The legislation would apply to businesses that employ 10 or more workers, including contractual, temporary or seasonal workers. "Some of the business folks still have an issue with it, but this is right for growing our city," he Mosby added that he's gotten calls from lawmakers in places like Kentucky and New England who want to seek similar laws. "I'm excited. This is just the beginning," he said.

Under the legislation, private employers could still do a background check, but it would have to be delayed until an applicant had had an opportunity to interview or had received a conditional job offer. Only Philadelphia and Newark, have laws broadly restricting private companies from asking about criminal history early in the hiring process, according to the employment law project About a dozen cities and counties nationally put limits on private contractors that do business with the government The General Assembly passed a law last year that prohibits certain state offices from asking whether a job applicant has a criminal record until an interview. Monica Cooper, co-founder of the Maryland Justice Project, cheered the vote. "I feel that the city deserves to give its citizens a fair chance. I don't think a person should be condemned for the rest of their lives to live in impoverished conditions.

I think it creates more crime." Neverdon echoed that sentiment. "With this bill, I can have a little hope," he said. lbroadwaterbaltsun.com twitter.comlukebroadwater Breakfast time Timothy Virts waives extradition to Maryland Police unsure when man accused of killing mother of his children will return By Yvonne Wenger and Jessica Anderson The Baltimore Sun FLORENCE, S.C. Timothy Virts, the man who allegedly killed the mother of his children and then fled to South Carolina with one daughter, has waived his right to extradition proceedings, authorities said Monday. Virts, 38, is waiting to be transported by Maryland authorities, South Carolina officials said Monday.

Baltimore County police said they are working with police in South Carolina on his return but have not determined when he will handed over. "He'll be flown back," and the department is working with Maryland State Police's aviation unit, county police spokeswoman Elise Armacost said in an email. Virts is charged in the death of 36-year-old Bobbie Jo Cortez, who was found fatally BARBARA HADDOCK TAYLORBALTIMORE SUN PHOTO Ravens defensive lineman Haloti Ngata has breakfast with students Monday morning as he visits Conowingo Elementary School in Cecil County to encourage students to eat breakfast as part of the "It Starts With School Breakfast" and "Fuel Up to Play 60" stabbed Thursday in her Ardee Way home in Dun-dalk. Baltimore County police said Monday that they believe Virts killed Cortez before 6 p.m. Wednesday and fled sometime after 6 a.m.

Thursday with Cortez's 11-year-old daughter, Cait- GENERAL ASSEMBLY Holocaust debate in Annapolis Timothy Virts lyn Virts. Police said Caitlyn, her twin sister, Cayla, and a 13-year-old brother were home when their mother was killed. Family said Cortez's daughter, Cayla, made the discovery, and that Cortez was bound with duct tape. Shordy after the discovery, police issued an Amber Alert for Caitlyn, saying they were worried about her safety. Police said Virts fled in a Dodge Durango that was registered to Cortez's husband, 38-year-old Daniel Williams Cortez, who has been jailed since December on sex offense charges.

Baltimore County police said the charges are not related to the alleged abduction. Police have not identified a motive. Virts and Caitlyn were found late Friday night more than 400 miles from Dundalk in a motel room in Florence, S.C, after a motel employee notified authorities upon seeing the Amber Alert for Caitlyn on Facebook. County homicide detectives flew to South Carolina after Virts' arrest and continue to interview him. Police said they are withholding what Virts told detectives, citing the continuing investigation.

Court documents containing additional information will be made public when Virts is arraigned in Baltimore County. Family said Caitlyn flew back to Maryland on Saturday. Police said Baltimore County's Department of Health and Human Services reunited Caitlyn with her siblings, and that all three remain in the care of social services. A Facebook page, "In Loving Memory of Bobbie Jo Cortez," has been set up to "spread good memories about Bobbie and to pay respects," it says. ywengerbaltsun.com twitter.comyvonnewenger jkandersonbaltsun.com twitter.comjandersS contract.

After hearing testimony from Bretholz, the legislature enacted a watered-down bill that required SNCF to prove that it had sufficiently opened up its archives to allow research of its record. SNCF was found to have satisfied the law and Keolis was allowed to bid, but it did not get the contract. Now Keolis is back as a bidder for the Purple Line partnership. The company's critics want to use the legislation as leverage in negotiations between the U.S. State Department and the French government over reparations to Americans who have not received payment for their treatment on SNCF trains.

Harriet Tamen, who was Bretholz's lawyer, said SNCF had shown "absolute indifference" to the plight of the deportees. Gilbert J. Germ, a lobbyist for Keolis, told the committee the legislation is "unworkable" and can't be fixed. He said the U.S. Constitution puts negotiations with foreign governments in the hands of the president and Congress, not the states.

Alain Leray, president of SNCF America, said the railroad was forced "to be a cog in the Nazi extermination machine." The Maryland Department of Transportation warned the legislation could put the Purple Line project in jeopardy. Assistant Secretary Beth Nachreiner told delegates it would violate Federal Transit Administration requirements for competitive bidding on projects it helps to finance. Last week the federal agency said it would allocate $900 million to the project. Nachreiner said that without the money, the project couldn't be built. Reznick, who called on the committee to name the measure after Bretholz, said he believes the department is wrong in its interpretation of the rules.

michael.dresserbaltsun.com Bill targets U.S. subsidiary of French national railroad for actions during war By Michael Dresser The Baltimore Sun The specter of the Holocaust came to Annapolis on Monday as survivors and their descendants sought what they view as justice in memory of a witness who couldn't be there. Leo Bretholz of Pikesville had been scheduled to testify on behalf of a bill to prohibit an American subsidiary of the French national railway from building a light rail line in the Washington suburbs unless it pays reparations for its role in transporting Nazi victims to Europe-Tricirl! an death camps. IHMUe Bretholz, who Leo Bretholz, a escaped from a Holocaust catde car carrying survivor, dies. Jews and other NEWS PG 12 Nazi victims to Auschwitz in 1942, died in his sleep Saturday.

Rosette Goldstein, a Holocaust survivor born in France in 1938, came from Florida to testify when she heard her old friend could no longer speak on a cause he had pursued for decades. "Leo, I will keep on fighting. I know that's why we were allowed to survive," she said as she delivered emotional testimony about her father's deportation and eventual murder by the Nazis. In a way, Bretholz did make his scheduled appearance. Del.

Kirill Reznick, a Montgomery County Democrat who AMY DAVISBALTIMORE SUN PHOTO Holocaust survivor Rosette Goldstein came from Florida to testify in the place of her old friend Leo Bretholz, who died Saturday at age 93. sponsored the bill, played a video of Bretholz telling his story. The legislation is aimed at Keolis, a subsidiary of the French company SNCF Societe Nationale des Chemins de fer Francais. Rockville-based Keolis is part of one of the teams competing to help build and operate the $2.4 billion Purple Line between New Carrollton and Bethesda After the French surrender to Germany in 1940, SNCF was absorbed into the Nazi war effort. Under orders from the Germans and the Vichy French government, SNCF transported an estimated 76,000 Jews and other victims to Germany, of whom only about 2,000 survived.

In 201L the General Assembly considered similar legislation attempting to block Keolis from bidding on a large MARC train.