A new bill has been introduced in Georgia that would widen the qualifying charges for expungements—but less is being said about the bill and more about the conversation. Time and time again men and women are charged with non-violent crimes, and although they pay their debt to society, they are still shut out. According to the Georgia Justice Project, more than one-third of the Georgia population has a prior criminal conviction. That equates to over 4 million people who must disclose their criminal records when applying for housing, employment, and education.
Senator Tonya Anderson introduced Senate Bill 288. She is credited for starting the conversation of the need for criminal justice reform in Georgia. The Legal Action Center placed Georgia as the second-worst state in the U.S., largely due to the hoops you must jump through to reintegrate back into society after an arrest or conviction.
It’s no secret that Georgia is in need of some change in the expungement department due to the high volume of Georgians with criminal records. There is talk that the bill was merely introduced to start a conversation and if that’s the case, it’s working. Reducing the roadblocks for reformed criminals is needed in Georgia, but the question of public safety comes up. The bill would automatically expunge qualifying charges after 10 years and once all fines are paid. It’s not a change that would allow murderers to roam free, but rather help people who made mistakes, paid their debt to society, and came out of it reformed and ready to start fresh.
At the end of the day, this Georgia bill would make it easier for people with criminal records to start over. This is something we can all get behind. Easy Expunctions is an online record-clearing service that can help you eliminate qualifying charges from your record. Imagine your life with a clean record and visit www.easyexpunctions.com to make that a reality.
