Movement to Expunge Criminal Records Arises in Black America

I am not in favor of blanket expungements of criminal records. That said it is incontrovertible that a criminal record is a form of life sentence. Not only are there legal bars to employment in many fields but most people who are hiring for jobs do not hire people with records even if there is no legal prohibition. This a very serious problem. If you want to slap a life sentence on someone then fine do it and lock them up forever. But remember it costs about $35-$50k annually to incarcerate someone.

People who have jobs rarely commit crimes. It seems to me to be obvious that putting obstacles in the path to employment of people with criminal records is foolish and counter productive.

Here is my suggestion for dealing with ex cons...
1. Differentiate on crimes. Not all crimes are the same and there should be different responses long term, depending on what the crime was. Pedophiles rapists and other violent sexual predators have an extremely high incidence of recidivism and should not be allowed to have their criminal records expunged ever. Beyond that Felony crimes should be classified into two categories...
2. Violent Felons with only one offense and no evidence of legal problems since the conviction should be able apply to clear their record after 20 years from the date of release from prison or the completion of their sentence. This should not apply to anyone with multiple convictions. If you don't learn the first time then you loose.
3. Non violent felons should have the same rules but I would make it 10 years. If you were a one time non violent criminal and never made a mistake after that then I don't have a problem clearing their record and restoring any lost civil rights etc after 10 years.
4. Misdemeanors ... same rules but 5 years.
5. This of course is still a long time to be stuck with a criminal record hanging over your head when your looking for a job. So unless your a registered sex offender (pedophiles and violent rapists) I would suggest a 5 year limit on criminal background checks for most jobs. Guys getting out of jail have enough problems trying to make it in the honest world. There is no need to be making it harder for them and therefor more likely that they will land back in prison.
6. I do NOT think record expungement should be automatic. The guidelines I proposed above should be just that. Guidelines. Convicted felons should still have to apply for the expungement and if there is a compelling reason that might not be covered by the above (like known ongoing gang membership for an example) then the request can and should be denied. Also common sense says that some jobs must be allowed to do in depth background checks. But the list of jobs that have restrictions based on criminal record at the present time is way to broad. No one wants an ex Felon working in your kids school. But telling a guy he can't cut hair for a living because of a mistake he made a long time ago is foolish and vindictive. As a Christian I believe in reasonable consequences for actions. But I also believe in forgiveness once those consequences have been met and paid.

So you're saying that a person who used to be addicted to cocaine is more qualified than someone who hasn't? Please. Let's put it this. Someone who has a criminal conviction could and should have a make against him when I m considering hiring him. He or she better have a whole bunch of positives to offset that big negative.

I think the expunging of records is a poor solution, and I support a potential employer's right to test for drugs and to learn of criminal convictions. I judge harshly those employers with attitudes like yours, who automatically write-off those who were caught making stupid mistakes in their youths or early adulthood as bad risks and of poor character. In many cases the opposite is true -- they are of unusually strong character and have considerly less risk of EVER surrendering again to temptation.

I would also be leery of putting very much confidence into such judgemental employers or their operations because when it comes to cocaine abuse in particular, they have no idea what they're tangling with. The employer smart enought to see the positive side of the redeemed cocaine addict, will hire a better worker who will not only give the employer considerable loyalty because of the trust shown, but because the new employee has survived and learned to loathe the addiction will be 100 times more likely to spot it in the company and be devoted to halting it -- and it's common, believe me. You yourself probably are acquainted with many successful professionals who are cocaine users, but you don't know it and never will unless they get caught. Like as not you might even have hired one or two. The reason I know this is because ... I've been there.

I KNOW FOR SURE that the person who used to be addicted to cocaine, alcohol, heroin, you name it, and who has turned his or her life around by overcoming the addiction, has a demonstrably strong character. This is someone who has met and conquered personal challenges that most people never know, and that most people when they do know them, don't have the strength, the discipline, the insight, the humility, to resolve them. George W. Bush was already my favorite, but when I learned that he was a reformed alcoholic, my respect for him soared because I know very well what that entails. It made him BETTER QUALIFIED, in my book.

public housing, welfare benefits, student loans or the right to vote.

Sounds like these are the main areas the main area of concern although I see no problem with clearing an old misdemeanor from a person's record who has gone straight for a number of years

For more serious crime no.

When I was a teenager in the sixties the fact that you would have a record that would follow you was considered a strong deterrent in preventing crime.

My parents impressed the importance of having a clean school record with low absentee rate. We where made aware that our records would affect future employment.

I guess parents and society back then required and expected more of their young people.

But then again I think maybe it's the liberal education system which excuses our children more than it challenges them.

In either case the responsibility for them is ours and ours alone.

yep

My 20 daughter had an accident with an 18 year girl 1;30 at night. The 18 year old was in drinking area with lots of bar and taverns. When the police officer showed up he reconized the 18 year old last name as the of an important police chief in Cinny. Of course the girl was telling anyone who listened her daddy was so and so. Well to make a long story short they charged my daughter with dui and too the little gal home. Now we have a record that will live for ever in the databases of the govt. Work privaliges for one year, has payed her debt to society.

Big brother is watching.

No. What I meant by having "been there" refers to my bad old days when as a hard drinking but respectable professional, I had many successful professional acquaintances and friends who did coke. I was in their confidence because I was in a sense one of them, and I know how shocked most of our mutual, non-wild-partying acquaintances would have been to learn that these lawyers, designers, managers, execs, entrepreneurs ... were coke heads. Or course, their careers slowly sputtered, though less savvy observers never put two and two together.

I snorted with the best of them, but oddly never became addicted to that particular drug, though heaven knows I gave myself plenty of opportunity. Booze was my addiction. God was my support group. I have since come to regard what looked like a curse -- my "allergy" to alcohol!! (breaking out in arrests, fights, and waking up in jail with no idea how I got there) to be one of my greatest blessings.

Acutally I can't remember the wording of the question on applications, but I'm pretty sure it's ranged from "Have you ever been arrested?" to "Have you ever been charged with a felony?" and "Have you ever been convicted of a crime?" I was charged with felony assault on an officer. I got tossed in jail, bailed out, went to court not with lawyer or jury, just me, pleaded guilty because I slapped and kicked the cop (note to self: don't ever do that again! ;^), but the cop fabricated evidence that I'd torn his uniform and the judge seemed to know and disapprove of the over-zealous cop; they fined me and slapped my wrist, and told me that I was on a kind of probation where if I got in trouble with the law over the next three years I'd be in deep doo-doo. I doubt that that qualifies as a felony conviction, but I know that, years ago, when I tried to get it removed from my record, it ended up being a process that I didn't understand at all. So I figured the heck with it. Also had an arrest for drunk in public years later, but that's a misdemeanor, IIRC.

I got tossed in jail, bailed out, went to court not with lawyer or jury, just me, pleaded guilty because I slapped and kicked the cop (note to self: don't ever do that again! ;^), but the cop fabricated evidence that I'd torn his uniform and the judge seemed to know and disapprove of the over-zealous cop; they fined me and slapped my wrist, and told me that I was on a kind of probation where if I got in trouble with the law over the next three years I'd be in deep doo-doo. I doubt that that qualifies as a felony conviction

That was, indeed, a felony conviction. If you were charged with a felony and plead guilty to it, you are a convicted felon. An additional clue is the fact that the court said they had 'rights' over you for more than one year ("if I got in trouble with the law over the next three years I'd be in deep doo-doo"). Misdemeanor convictions only give you jeopardy for less than one year.

Don't own a gun; it's an additional felony (Felon in Possession of a Firearm). Also, if you are voting, in certain states that is disallowed or is another crime. Check your laws.

Work to get the felony pardoned by your governor. It was 26 years ago and governors will often give you relief from such ancient crimes, so long as you stayed on the straight and narrow.

Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.