by Mary Green - Live 5 News WCSC

COLUMBIA, S.C. (WCSC) - When Lester Young of Columbia was released from prison after serving 22 years, he was ready to find a job and begin the next chapter of his life outside incarceration.

But Young said he could not get hired after employers took a look at his criminal record.

“It was kind of discouraging to walk out of prison and ready to go to work and start your life over, and people are telling you you are not good enough to work for them,” he said. “It was not that you couldn’t do the job but because you had a felony conviction.”