If you ever did even a minor crime, it will follow you forever. It cause embarrassment, have bad credit rating and may lose educational opportunities and job. But the law is there to help you and remove the criminal tag from you.
Other than a direct punishment such as fines, probation, jail, forfeiture, and restitution, criminals also suffer indirect convictions of its crime known as ‘collateral consequences.’ These consequences can affect a broad range of areas in a person’s life including voting rights, school loans, employment, public benefits, housing, immigration, and jury service.
Like, if there is a criminal record of you getting into a car accident then do not let this embarrassment hold you back. You can contact an experienced car accident lawyer who will work to clean up your criminal record.
A Mistake In Past Does Not Have to Determine Your Future
If a person had a criminal case where charges were withdrawn, dismissed, or was found ‘not guilty, they may be able to have the arrest record that follows them expunged. With the expungement court order, the arrest record of a person is destroyed and deleted, including showing up in the background searches. The outcomes of other cases when the charges can be expunged are:
- Pretrial diversions
- Accelerated Rehabilitative Disposition (ARD)
- Juvenile delinquency records
- Probation without verdict
Sealing Criminal Conviction Record
In the past, it was not possible to expunge the record of a misdemeanor conviction. It always stays and would appear in the background or search of the criminal history. By the court order, certain criminal convictions (not all) can be sealed as per the law.
The record regarding criminal charges will not show up to the public. This includes employers. A person whose criminal record has been sealed upon court order would not have to disclose to the job applications, employers, or in interviews.
Special Expungement Rules For Minor Convictions
There are special rules applied for criminal convictions which are minor offenses. In the past five years, if there have been no subsequent arrests or charges following the summary convictions then the law can give expungement to the convictions for summary offenses.
It might be critical to remove summary convictions from a person’s history. There are certain summary offenses like theft in retail that may disqualify someone from some employers such as banks. Charges such as disorderly conduct, underage drinking, or intoxication may cause employers such as the district post office to reject you.
Seeking Pardon of Criminal Conviction
For those criminal convictions that cannot be sealed or expunged, the law offers help in the process of seeking forgiveness from the governor. This process is difficult and lengthy but is critically important as a possibility for some individuals.
Apart from social life, your record matters in your educational and professional life. It is best to take legal assistance to get proper evaluation and guidance on your case. It increases the chances of gaining relief of having a pardon in a criminal conviction.
Author information: John Adams writes about Personal Injury and Social Security Disability. He encourages his readers to realize the importance of aspects of Personal Injury and Social Security Disability. As he loves to share his insight about life experiences, he has contributed to the various online platforms in the same niche.
