By Stephen Woods, Gustavo Suárez and Jennifer Woodruff ( August 7, 2018, 12:18 PM EDT) -- Twenty years ago, on a warm summer day, Hawaii enacted a restriction on employer inquiries into an applicant's work history until after a conditional offer of employment. Intended to give applicants with criminal histories a fair shot at employment, the law — the first state "ban the box" law — crystalized a movement that, in time, would yield similar restrictions in 12 states and 17 localities (for private employers). The result is a crisscrossing jumble of requirements with little uniformity, putting employers in a difficult position when dealing with applicants (and sometimes even existing employees) in different jurisdictions....