Pubdate: Wed, 09 Aug 2006
Source: Detroit News (MI)
Copyright: 2006, The Detroit News
Contact:  http://detnews.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/126
Author: Miriam Aukerman

MICHIGAN'S REFORMED PRISONERS GET JOBS

A criminal record is a good predictor of future behavior. That's what 
an executive at a background check company said in the Aug. 7 
article, "More felons records erased." But it isn't true. New 
research from the University of Maryland and University of South 
Carolina shows that a person who has been crime-free for seven years 
has essentially the same risk of committing a crime as a person who 
has never committed a crime.

Even though people with old records aren't a threat, we treat them as 
second-class citizens. Two-thirds of employers will not hire someone 
with a record, and many jobs -- such as jobs in transportation, 
schools, health care, daycare, aviation and private security -- are 
off limits, even if the record is minor or ancient. So it is no 
surprise that more people are trying to expunge their records.

I represent people who are getting expungements, and my clients 
aren't rapists and murderers. Those folks aren't allowed to get 
expungements. No, my clients are kids who did stupid things and then 
grew up. My clients played pranks, wrote bad checks to avoid eviction 
or failed to report a part-time job while they were on welfare. Many 
clients have worked for years in fields like health care, but aren't 
able to work anymore under harsh new laws that deprive them of their 
livelihood based on old convictions.

When people get an expungement, they can go from welfare to work. 
They can get a job that supports their kids. But to get that 
expungement, they first have to prove to the judge that they've 
changed. And people do change.

Miriam Aukerman

Reentry Law Project

Legal Aid of Western Michigan

Grand Rapids       .
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MAP posted-by: Beth Wehrman