Montgomery, Alabama, finally expunged the juvenile record of Claudette Colvin in a decision that was very long overdue. In 1955, nine months before Rosa Parks made headlines, Colvin was arrested for refusing to give up her seat to a white person on a bus. At the young age of 15, Colvin resisted arrest and was charged with violating Montgomery’s segregation ordinance and assaulting an officer.
“Ban the Box” policies remove the check box that asks applicants if they have a criminal record on initial job applications. They exist to encourage employers to examine a candidate’s qualifications first, rather than letting the stigma of a criminal record get in the way of hiring someone who is otherwise qualified.
Punishment shouldn’t last a lifetime. DeSoto, Texas, acknowledges a person’s right to a second chance with the enaction of a “Ban the Box” policy that prevents city employers with over 15 employees from asking about an applicant’s criminal history.
North Carolina victims of human trafficking will receive support from the state with a new budget created to help survivors pursue a better life. The budget assists with many resources, including waiving expunction costs for victims wrongfully cited for participating in sex work.
More and more states are getting with the times, at least when it comes to cannabis. Montana state officials are working to create a drug court that deals primarily with the expungement of criminal charges for marijuana-related offenses, a notion that could relieve thousands of deserving Montanans from the burden of their criminal record.
When it comes to our prison system, we need to push toward rehabilitation, not reincarceration. The lack of employment opportunities for ex-convicts raises a question that Colorado Attorney Phil Weiser seeks to address with a $1.1million initiative with the Colorado Department of Corrections (CDOC) and other community organizations.
Finding a job just became a little bit easier in Maine. The state has officially enacted Legislative Document 1167, which bans private employers from asking applicants about their criminal history early in the hiring process. LD 1167 was signed into law in July, and officially took effect on October 18th.
As technology advances at a rapid pace, it also becomes more and more invasive. There’s been quite a bit of uncertainty surrounding regulation and privacy concerns for Facebook users, which prompted the organization to scale back its Facial Recognition system for more than 1 billion users.
In a recent interview with a local news station, Pennsylvania Lt. Gov. John Fetterman (D) vowed to spend his final year in office getting as many people possible to apply for marijuana expunctions.