The study ...ranks the states based on the stringency of laws that bar former offenders from whole professions, or strip them of driver's licenses, parental rights and the right to vote. Colorado, South Carolina, Georgia and Virginia are rated worst, which means that ex-offenders in those states have the least chance of becoming productive citizens. In some states, a person who commits a vehicle-related crime as a teenager can go to college and grow into adulthood, only to be barred from, say, the real estate business, which requires a state license.

Most states permit employers to base employment decisions on arrests that never led to convictions, in defiance of the presumption of innocence. The federal government joined the party by withholding highway funds from states that refuse to punish drug offenders by suspending their drivers’ licenses, even if the offender wasn’t driving during the commission of the crime.

Those who leave prison in desperate need of jobs cannot legally drive to work, to school or to drug treatment programs. In states where public transportation is nonexistent, ex-convicts have no choice but to risk returning to prison by driving illegally.

If the Bush administration really wants to help ex-offenders become productive (as it claims), it should start by seeking a repeal of that law.