Detroit Criminal Defense Lawyer: Why You Need Your Criminal Record Expunged

DETROIT CRIMINAL DEFENSE ATTORNEY: THE COST OF LIVING WITH A CRIMINAL RECORD

Unfortunately, many people are living their day to day lives with a criminal record that has in some way caused a major roadblock towards advancement and progress in their lives. According to Yahoo News when comparing recent unemployment rates with persons living with criminal records, Yahoo News stated:

Have You Been Denied Employment Due To Your Criminal Record?

“A 2006 survey by the Society for Human Resource Management revealed that 80% percent of mid-size to large employers check the criminal backgrounds of applicants. It just may be that background checking is the only real growth industry in America, because according to U.S. Bureau of Justice Statistics, roughly 3.1% of American adults are on probation, incarcerated, or on parole. That’s a staggering 1 in every 32 adults (and that doesn’t even include the millions arrested on summary offenses)!”.

It is a well known fact that most businesses, public agencies, schools, and even federal funding programs perform criminal background checks in the United States. A criminal record in most cases can mean the loss of employment; loss of public aide; loss of opportunity for schooling and college; including several other collateral consequences that come with a criminal record.

The problem with the criminal justice system today is its merciless attempt to avoid sealing public records. In most states, including Michigan, once a person is convicted of a criminal offense, that offense has the potential to stay on a person’s criminal record for up to five years from the date of conviction. These convictions are often open to the public to view and find out with simple criminal background check of that person. In fact, according to Yahoo News, states such as Michigan which held high unemployment rates were among the most current pattern of states who choose not to seal criminal convictions from a persons record. “Let’s examine the link between strict expungement laws and high rates of unemployment. Generally speaking, states with high rates of unemployment do not allow misdemeanors to be sealed, even if it’s a low-grade misdemeanor. Michigan (with an unemployment rate of 11.1%) is one such example, along with South Carolina (11%), Florida (10.6%), Mississippi (10.6%), North Carolina (10.5%), and Georgia (10.3%). Of the 10 states with the highest unemployment, only four offer some sort of expungement for those convicted of misdemeanors, and in states like Illinois and Georgia, expungement of misdemeanors is limited only to first-time offenders and juvenile offenders. In other words, if you slap your wife in Florida or punch out someone in a bar in Michigan, you may never work again.”

If you or someone you know has been turned away from a job, career, or opportunity for advancement, they must contact Michigan Criminal Record Expungement Attorney to seek an expungement of their criminal record.

A Criminal Expungement, legally known as an “Application to Set Aside Conviction” may be a solution that clears up obstacles for those with convictions on their record, making it easier to achieve better opportunities and provide a fresh start at life. Michigan Criminal Record Expungement Attorney Kevin Bessant has experienced much success in helping those with criminal records Set Aside their criminal convictions so that their records are cleared.

Setting Aside a Conviction or “Expungement” refers to the legal process of removing a prior criminal conviction from public record with the Michigan State Police criminal database. If you plead “guilty,” “no contest,” or were found guilty in court of a misdemeanor or felony offense, drug crime, weapons offense, criminal assault or domestic violence, you may be eligible to have your criminal conviction expunged from public record. An expungement allows one-time criminal offenders who satisfy the requirements of Michigan Law, to set aside that one criminal conviction.