When Vance Webster was released from prison three years ago, he was determined to find a job, his first ever, and finally get his life off the ground. He was 45 years old and had been in prison since he was 16, serving out a 25 to life sentence for being an accessory after the fact to a gang-related murder and robbery. Vance applied for hundreds of positions, did over 80 interviews and finally, almost miraculously, got a job in a warehouse. Seven months into that job, a supervisor told him he was being let go for having lied on his application. He had failed to tick the box that asked if he had been convicted of a felony in the past seven years. Although he pointed out that he hadn't actually committed a felony in 29 years, he was fired and the job he'd fought so hard to get was gone and, so it seemed, was his shot at a decent life.

© Guardian News & Media Ltd