NEW HAVEN — “Free suits! Get your free suit for an interview!” yelled LaReese Harvey on the Green last week during New Haven’s first-ever job fair for felons.

Harvey is the policy director for the Hartford-based A Better Way campaign. Her call attracted Reginald Jones who rummaged through the clothes.

Jones, a 51-year-old ex-offender, didn’t find a suit that fits, but he did sign Harvey’s petition to do away with mandatory minimum prison sentences.

“We’re trying to change the system to prevent people from going in [to prison],” she told Jones.

“That’s great, but what do you do about the people who just got out?” he wanted to know.

Harvey explained that the state just passed legislation called “ban the box.” The new policy does away with that pesky little box on job applications that asks applicants if they’ve ever been convicted of a felony. New Haven passed a similar policy last year. It covers city job applications and applications at companies that contract with the city.

Now that that’s accomplished, Harvey told Jones, she wants to abolish mandatory minimums and let judges use their discretion. “Instead of putting people into prison, let’s put them in programs and re-integrate them into the community,” she told him. Jones liked the idea.

The entire fair was a mixture of activism, social services like job training and a few job opportunities. It was organized by New Haven’s Re-Entry Roundtable, which works on issues confronting people coming out of prison.

Amy Meek, who co-chairs the roundtable and is the City’s point-person for re-entry issues, says the fair provides networking opportunities. “We want to educate employers about ‘ban the box,’ even if it only results in them putting more thought into doing background checks: what sort of crimes are relevant to the job, how long ago it was.”

Meek was hoping for 300 people to come through the fair. Three hours before the event ended, she’d passed the 300 mark.

“This is awesome,” Jones said.

Jones says that since he’s been out of prison, he’s been doing job training — he’s taken a course of asbestos abatement and a four-hour training on lead removal. “I really want to work,” he says. He’s currently getting unemployment benefits but “I don’t want to depend on that. I want a secure job.”

He calls the fair “a wonderful opportunity,” adding that “some people might pick up a bottle or a drug, because they feel there’s no hope, no opportunity.”

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