Texans go to the polls this November. The November election has several issues on the ballot. That includes who will be the next governor of Texas. The candidates for governor are incumbent Greg Abbott and challenger Beto O’Rouke. The gubernatorial race pits a staunch republican against a progressive democrat. Both have very different opinions on many issues that affect Texans. Here is where both candidates stand on some of the biggest concerns for Texans.

Women’s Reproductive Rights

Women across Texas are coping with the overturning of Roe vs. Wade. The ruling affects access to reproductive care for women across the state. The ruling has also kept doctors in a legal gray area and unable to care for their female patients. Abbott vows to uphold the Supreme Court’s choice to restrict reproductive care. Beto promises to support access to reproductive care. Beto also vows not to punish women seeking reproductive care.

Marijuana

Marijuana decriminalization is one of Beto’s most significant rallying points. In addition, President Biden’s recent marijuana pardons aid the argument for decriminalization.

Abbott maintains all pardons must go through Texas’ Board of Pardons and Parole. Abbott is unlikely to pursue the decriminalization of marijuana. 67% of Texans are seeking the legalization of marijuana.

LGBTQIA/Trans Rights

The Supreme Court will discuss marriage equality in October. Beto promises to uphold marriage equality and the rights of transgender individuals. Abbott aligns with more conservative views. Abbott wishes to keep marriage traditional (between a man and a woman). During his time as governor, Abbott criminalized gender-affirming surgery for transgender youths. Abbott’s ruling goes against the 66% of Texans who support LGBT+ rights.

Police Reform

Police reform is on the minds of most Texans. Since the death of George Floyd, Americans have wanted tangible change, including calls to defund the police. Governor Abbott signed bills to help change police procedure accountability in 2019. However, critics argue that Abbott’s measures are not enough. Police brutality remains a concern for Texans. Beto promises meaningful police reform without defunding the police.

Guns

Gun violence in Texas costs $16.6 billion per year. Governor Abbott assures that no change must happen after the Uvalde shooting, but Beto pledges substantial gun reform for Texas to prevent further loss of life. Texas supports gun rights. Recent mass shootings are changing the way Texans view gun reform.

This November, Texans go to the polls, and criminal justice reform is an essential issue for all. Easy Expunctions will see you at the polls this November.  

The drug war was not intended to protect the people. In fact, the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) recently admitted that racial, ethnic, and class prejudice played a large role in the agency’s founding. Although drug criminalization helps continue the cycle of poverty, homelessness, and incarceration for non-white communities, California officials announce a plan to use cannabis tax revenue to fund equity programs to support citizens who were disproportionately impacted by the war on drugs.

Eligible cities and counties can apply for grants for the Cannabis Equity Grants Programs for Local Jurisdictions through December 14. However, the operation of cannabis businesses is banned in more than half of the state’s jurisdictions, allowing for more illicit trading in California. The Governor’s Office of Business and Economic Development (GO-Biz) acknowledges the barriers of marijuana criminalization in a recent statement:

“Offering technical support, regulatory compliance assistance, and assistance with securing the capital necessary to begin a business will further the stated intent of [legalization] by reducing barriers to entry into the regulated cannabis industry…Offering these types of support will also aid the state in its goal of eliminating or reducing the illicit cannabis market by bringing more people into the legal marketplace.”

Although California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) recently vetoed a crucial component of drug policy reform legislation, Newsom addresses the consequences of cannabis criminalization by signing a number of cannabis reform laws, including one that will make record-sealing of past convictions more accessible.

Laws change all the time. A person’s race, ethnicity, or class should not keep them stuck within the confines of their criminal record. Easy Expunctions can help you wipe your record clean at an affordable price. Visit our website at easyexpunctions.com to learn more about our fully online services!

More than 3,500 people have applied for pardons as a part of a new Pennsylvania Board of Pardons (BOP) relief program for those convicted of cannabis-related offenses. These pardons represent formal and full forgiveness for the conviction on behalf of the government. Applicants eligible for such a pardon include those with cannabis convictions involving up to thirty grams of marijuana or eight grams of hashish.

The overwhelming interest in this program is due to the claim that the relief program has been positioned as “expedited” and simple by the state BOP. However, the governor’s office has stressed that a pardon does not expunge one’s conviction record and that the applicants will still need to petition the courts to have their records formally cleared. Even so, this rush of applicants makes it clear how many people are desperate to have their criminal records cleared so that they can better their circumstances and pass background checks for employment, housing, licensing, and more.

We understand how limiting it can be to live with a charge or conviction that gets in the way of your opportunities. Expunctions are made simple with Easy Expunctions, where you can wipe your slate clean affordably and completely online! Visit EasyExpunctions.com to find the expunction package for you and get the process started today.

At the end of September, California Governor Gavin Newsom vetoed SB 1262, which would have made it much easier for companies who choose to conduct background checks to retrieve personal information. The bill would have allowed electronic indexes of defendants in criminal cases available bases on a defendant’s date of birth or driver’s license number.

Newson disrupted the bill on the basis of a prior ruling on an individual’s private information. In a letter to the California State Senate, the Governor noted the following:

“This bill would override a 2021 appellate court decision and current court rules that strike a fair balance between public access to court records, public safety, and an individual’s constitutional right to privacy. While this bill may provide for a more convenient process for companies conducting commercial background checks, it would also allow any member of the public to easily access individuals ‘ sensitive personal information online.”

The ruling he mentions, a May 2021 decision in All of Us or None – Riverside Chapter vs. W. Samuel Hamrick, Clerk, had superior courts removing the DOB search field. Governor Newsom’s decision was a step in the right direction in eliminating the stigma of a criminal record and ensuring privacy for California’s residents.

If your criminal record is all-too accessible, and it slowing down your job or home search, we’re here to help. Reach out to Easy Expunctions to see if you qualify for a fast, affordable, and 100% online expunction process!

Bethany Hallam, 23 year-old Allegheny County councilperson and Duquesne University School of Law student, feels that she has been discriminated against by Airbnb.

After Bethany attempted to book an Airbnb for five nights in Miami Beach, Florida, she received a shocking email from the platform. The email stated that Airbnb evaluated her account, including a consumer risk report, generated using Infection Risk Solutions, LLC’s Inflection SafeDecision API service, and found a criminal record match, and thus she would be permenately banned from using Airbnb. Airbnb canceled the Florida booking and offered a full refund, but Bethany was confused by this ban, considering she used Airbnb for years and never had any issues.

Airbnb has its background check policy stated on its website. They claim to keep all parties, renters and hosts alike, safe they run names along with birth dates through a background check service. For guests, the checks are run ten days before their check-in date, and hosts are checked after creating a listing.

Bethany’s criminal record Airbnb recovered: one count of opiate possession nine years ago.

Criminal records, long in the past, should stay in the past. Move forward and clear your record at EasyExpunctions.com. Expunge affordably, simply, and completely online! Visit or call to find an expunction package that works for you.

A recent study by the social impact department of Indeed, a worldwide employment website, has found that people are open-minded to working alongside individuals with prior convictions and support fair-chance hiring practices.

In a survey of more than 1,000 employees, Indeed found that 92% are comfortable working with individuals with nonviolent criminal records, 91% think providing fair job opportunities is crucial to society, and 73% even prefer to work for a company that supports fair hiring practices. 70% of employees are comfortable working with individuals with a record of multiple non-violent incidents. 66% say that they would feel comfortable working with someone with a violent incident on their record, as long as it was a single, isolated occurrence. But even then, 54% of employees went as far as to state that they would be comfortable working with individuals with multiple violent incidents in their past.

These findings affirm a survey conducted by the Society for Human Resource Management and the SHRM Foundation of 1,100 employees. This survey found that 79% of employees feel comfortable if some of their coworkers had a nonviolent criminal record, 57% would be proud to work for a company that addresses stigmas that people with criminal records face, and 52% think employers, as a whole, should help people with criminal records secure jobs.
Abbey Carlton, the vice president of Indeed’s societal impact department had this to say about the survey:
“We are encouraged to see that employees are overwhelmingly supportive of fair-chance hiring practices and even say that a company’s practices in this area would influence their decision to work there.”
Even though employees are opening up to the idea of working alongside those with criminal records, prior convictions still pose a huge barrier to entry into the job market. This is where Easy Expunctions can help. With Easy Expunctions, you can view and expunge your public criminal record all online and all affordable in easy-to-understand steps. Visit EasyExpunctions.com to get your expungement process started today!

A House committee, as of September 21, 2022, approved a series of bi-paritsan criminal justice reform bills, HR 2864, HR 5651, and HR 5455. As a whole, these bills aim to provide swift expungement for non-violent drug charges, primarily marijuana, and provide support for those incarcerated under crack-cocaine charges due to past sentencing disparities.

Committee chairman Representative Jerrold Nadler (D-NY) had this to say on Twitter: “The existence of a criminal record, even just an arrest, can present lifetime barriers to obtaining jobs, housing, education and put other opportunities out of reach. Criminal record expungement and sealing is a pathway to employment opportunities for individuals with a criminal record, enabling them to participate fully in their communities.”

HR 2864, known as the “Clean Slate Act”, mandates the automatic sealing of non-violent, federal marijuana conviction records and penalizes officials who unjustly disclose information contained in a sealed record. However, in the case of “certain high-risk occupations” records will still be accessible to employers. The bill will also aim to relieve those who have been arrested under such pretenses, but were not convicted. HR 2864 was approved by a 20-12 committee vote.

HR 5651, or the “Fresh Start Act”, seeks to issue federal funding to states so that they may create automated expungement systems. The bill itself does not specify the crimes that would warrant automatic expungement, but trends show that there will be a heavy focus on marijuana convictions. After a state submits an application the U.S. Department of Justice detailing their program and if approved, they will receive $5 million to support the programs. Up to 10% of the grant can be used for research and planning, while the rest is to be used to put the plan into practice and implement any necessary improvements. The money for these grants will be pulled from federal funding, $50 million annually from 2023 to 2027. HR 5651 advanced through the Judiciary in a 22-13 vote.

HR 5455, the “Terry Technical Correction Act”, responds to a 2021 Supreme Court ruling that stated that a law reducing the federal crack-cocaine sentence did not apply retroactively, meaning that those convicted prior to the sentence shortening would still have to serve their sentence as was handed down to them. HR 5455 clarifies that the 2010 “Fair Sentencing Act” was intended to provide those convicted of crack-cocaine offenses with relief, so any motion that was denied based on the Court’s interpretation of eligibility shall not be considered a denial, until after a complete review of the motion.

The Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts has ruled that, if they meet state law requirements, all expungement petitions are entitled to a “strong presumption of favor” of approval. If petitions are denied, judges must include detailed findings that support their decision. For misdemeanors, petitioners must wait three years after fulfilling their sentence to request expungement, but petitioners must wait seven years in the case of felony charges. Major felony convictions violent in nature, such as murder, domestic and sexual assault, and driving under the influence can never be expunged. There is a clear distinction between expunction and the sealing of criminal records. Sealed records can still be viewed by law enforcement, while expunction completely erases the charges from one’s criminal history.

This ruling was brought through a case of a man from Boston, who was denied an expunction of his 2003 marijuana possession charge despite the drug being legalized in 2016 in Massachusetts. Greater Boston Legal Services filed a lawsuit in 2019, asking that the courts overturn this decision. The Supreme Judicial Court ruled that the judge “abused his discretion” in his decision and overturned the ruling in the Boston man’s favor.

Not everyone has Greater Boston Legal Services to swoop in and fight for them. This is where Easy Expunctions can help. Easy Expunctions offers affordable, simple, and completely online expunction services. Visit https://www.easyexpunctions.com/ to get your free background check and clean your criminal record today!