It’s estimated that more than a quarter of the adults in West Virginia have a criminal record. That includes cases with one arrest or more, but no conviction or jail time. Those records can still show up years later in a background check and make someone ineligible for a job or a place to live.
On this Us & Them, host Trey Kay looks at the road toward a second chance. Nearly every state now has some sort of process to seal or expunge a record depending on the severity and type of crime, for people who want to take steps toward their future.
In this episode, we look at the process which can be complicated and time consuming. Some say it has given them hope — while others suggest there are dangers in shielding potential employers from the truth about people they might hire.
This episode of Us & Them is presented with support from the West Virginia Humanities Council and the CRC Foundation.
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“The nature of the offense, the person’s entire criminal history, and the passage of time between — time that they were charged with the offense or seeking expungement — whether it was an arrest that resulted in a dismissal or a conviction. And then I look at what they are doing now and if I can establish that, you know, whether it be through letters or some form of employment and the reason for it, a lot of times it’s for employment. Sometimes it’s because, you know, ‘I’m ashamed. I was 24 years old and I got off on the wrong side of the track, and I ended up being with the wrong crowd, and I got a drug conviction. Now I’m, 45 years old, I’ve got two children, and I hate to tell them that their dad’s a convicted felon. And I’ve worked for the last 15 years with the union, I haven’t touched drugs in 10 years, I’ve got steady employment…’ Those are the kinds of cases where I may expunge a felony. And I’ve expunged just a couple felony convictions where the majority unbelievably are sometimes arrested, even when there’s not been a conviction, they just want the arrest expunged.” — Honorable Judge Carrie Webster
Credit: Charleston Gazette-Mail
“I believe that every human is redeemable, including myself. And it’s really hard to come back from that, because you are facing consequences every day, for something that you’ve made great changes to turn your life around. But, you know, those collateral consequences, they still exist, and they are still preventing West Virginians from going back to work after they’ve faced consequences for their actions.” — Amber Blankenship
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“My position has not changed. I think that any time that an employer is evaluating an employee to whether or not they’re a fit for their organization, that they should have the right to ask any question they want and be able to pursue that answer.” — West Virginia Sen. Eric Tarr
Credit: Trey Kay/West Virginia Public Broadcasting
“You can’t judge somebody by their past. God is the only one out here that can judge somebody like that. Like, people learn from their mistakes. There’s people I hear that don’t learn from their mistakes and they keep repeating it over and they keep relapsing… But if they’re still in treatment, at least they’re in there. They’re trying to do better. They really are trying. Give them the benefit of the doubt and let them try.” — Troy Young
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