Movement to Expunge Criminal Records Arises in Black America

Newhouse News ^ | 7 26 05 | Jonathan Tilove

[Alexander Rubin]

Ummm...No?

Please stop.

They have records for a reason.

[RockinRight]

Here's a thought...stop comminning crimes...

[Dolphan]

Yes, they do, and some should be expunged, for good reason.

Blanket expungment is absurd though.

[Alexander Rubin]

Fair enough. My blanket assertion didn't do the situation justice. Still, I'd be careful about expunging criminal records.

[Americanexpat]

Seems to me they shouldn't be able to get a felony expunged. What about child molesters, sex crimes, murder, etc.?

[nathanbedford]

Maybe they can get this guy to efface General Forrest's record, selectively of course, and then they can leave the general's statue intact and his bones undisturbed in the park in Memphis.

[wideawake]

U.S. Rep. Danny K. Davis of Chicago, whose district includes stretches where 70 percent of black men aged 18 to 45 have a criminal record

It's whitey's fault.

[ikka]

The San Francisco public defender's office has a full-time lawyer doing nothing but expungements.Why?

[conservativewasp]

My understanding is that felonies cannot be expunged. I think it's aimed at stupid misdemeanors committed while young and stupid.

[johnny7]

What's a good reason?

[TXBSAFH]

If you can't do the time, don't do the crime.

[blam]

"I think it's aimed at stupid misdemeanors committed while young and stupid."

Prospective employers, etc usually take that into consideration I'll bet this is somehow associated with the Democrat effort to restore the voting rights of convicted felons.

[Dolphan]

Well, take a guy who had a charge of cocaine possession when he was 18.

Now he's 33, married, has 2 kids, has been in stable employment and hasn't been in trouble with the law since then.

The possession charge is preventing him from getting a promotion at work.

Something like this could qualify.

[Americanexpat]

I assumed as much myself, but the one gentleman was complaining about a heroin possession when he was 20. That is not a misdemeanor to my knowledge. I also thought that juveniles could get their records expunged (depending on the offenses).

[Rodney King]

Earlier this year, the Rev. Mark C. Olds, who served time for bank robbery and manslaughter, launched the National Restoration Movement USA in Cleveland, holding expungement forums there and in other Ohio cities

I can understand expunging the record of a 35 year old employed guy who did something non-violent when he was 18, but robbery and manslaughter? This is nuts.

[Paradox]

Some crimes are legally expungable. If that is the case, then so be it. I know a nice white republican in good standing that has something on his record that needs expunging, who is otherwise a law abiding and moral citizen. So I cant say its something completely wrong or just something that blacks want done. Case by case I guess.

[Sonar5]

Well, I guess if Slave Reperations are off the table, they have to do something with their time.

This is Just stupid....

[motzman]

And, because he can't get that promotion, and he needs additional income, he starts to look to other means of getting money.

When you get out of prison, you should have paid your debt. If your "too dangerous" to be hired, you should still be in jail.

[chesley]

Why should sex offenders, rapists, and murderers be out to begin with? A lot of thought and trouble is going into the problem of how do we keep our children safe when the answer is obvious. Child sex offenders just do not get out, for instance.

But, noooooooo, we can't do that.