Committee Considers Plan To Expunge Certain Juvenile Records
John Dillon – Montpelier, Vt.
(Host) The state Senate is considering a plan that would permit adults to get some criminal records erased if the crime happened when they were juveniles. Bennington Senator Dick Sears says he introduced the bill after a constituent was prohibited from going on a school fieldtrip with her grandchildren. It was because the woman had been convicted of a drug offense 25 years earlier. Sears says minor criminal offenses in a person’s past have become a barrier.
(Sears) “Right now more than 80 percent of U.S. employers perform a criminal background check on prospective employees. And so if you have a record no matter how old it is, will you be able to get that job.”
(Host) The Senate bill would allow a person to ask a court to “expunge” records of a nonviolent misdemeanor conviction. They would have to wait 10 years before making the request. And they could not have been convicted of a felony during that period. If granted, the person would be viewed under the law as if they’d never been convicted in the first place.
via VPR News: Committee Considers Plan To Expunge Certain Juvenile Records.
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