Expungement
By Albert B. Kelly
According to Mariam-Webster, to “expunge” is to “to strike
out, obliterate, or mark for deletion”. It also means to “to efface completely”
and finally to “to eliminate (as a memory) from one's consciousness”.
If you’re like me, there are probably a few things you would
like to “expunge” from memory like an embarrassing moment or gaff. In that
sense, “expunging” is a luxury of sorts and we do what we can.
But for millions of people, the idea of “expunging” is the
difference between getting a decent job or any job, a professional credential,
getting into college, having a better quality of life or living on the margins
because what they seek to expunge automatically translates into “criminal”.
This does not have to be just a conviction; it can include
simply being arrested. I say that because the last I checked, a person is
innocent until proven guilty in our legal system. Unfortunately for many,
that’s a distinction without a difference, but it shouldn’t be.
There are more people than we might like to consider that
get arrested but never end up being convicted of whatever it was that prompted
the arrest. And there are equally as many people who associate being arrested
with being guilty…with being a criminal.
That’s its own discussion, but it’s enough to know that an
arrest, along with the fingerprints, photos, processing paperwork, complaints,
and related documents follow a person around for the rest of their lives
yelling “criminal”.
Go for a job, an apartment, or a license of some sort and
all this stuff shows up on the background check. If “arrest” automatically
equals “criminal” these days, you can guess how this impacts a person far out
of proportion to the incident that resulted in the arrest.
Paperwork gets cranked out even if you just get a summons
and you’re never arrested or taken into custody. So for those who actually get convicted
of something, even minor offenses, you can imagine the lifelong fallout that
has.
Which is why I want to encourage anyone facing such a
situation to attend the December 6th “Expungement Seminar” that will
take place at Cumberland County College’s Luciano Center from 6:00pm to 7:00pm.
Hosted in part by the Cumberland County Prosecutor’s Office,
you will have the opportunity to learn about the law and recent changes that
took effect this past April, how these changes might impact expungement efforts,
and generally what’s involved with getting an expungement.
Understand that “expungement” here does not mean the thing
is erased completely, it means that the records are separated out so that when
a background check is done, these records don’t show up as mark against you.
This is no small thing for thousands of people in our area
and while having something like an arrest can impact the heftier professions,
it can also impact a person’s ability to work in a daycare, coach a youth
sports team, or own a firearm, and it will only get worse.
Remember, it’s not just being convicted of a crime, it’s
also just the act of being arrested and taken into custody- without ever being
convicted- that can end up disqualifying you from one thing or another.
Somehow, in our age of expanding inequality, with so much
working against those at the bottom looking up, this is a very important and
life-changing thing. I think expungement bears much closer examination with an
eye toward making it easier, in some circumstances more automatic, and perhaps
cheaper to obtain.
Some might disagree, believing that everything that can be
known about a person should be known. In some instances that’s a fair argument.
But it’s also fair to say that today, even in the little things, the tie
doesn’t necessarily go to the runner…the benefit of the doubt doesn’t go to the
one who trips a red flag.
And today, it’s also not too much to say that those at the
lower end of the spectrum are disproportionately poor, often minority, and certainly
the ones most in need of a little traction. How else are they to rise above and
pull themselves up by their own bootstraps?
But expungement also speaks to the fact that we’ve always
been a country of second chances and I think that matters today more than it
ever did- a lot of people need that hope and a break.
If that’s you, then check out the December 6th “Expungement
Seminar” at Cumberland County College (Luciano Center) from 6:00pm to 7:00pm.