For the ones that have any criminal record it is really hard to find a good job, even though that criminal record is due to nonviolent “small” crimes. The law has a goal to stop the situations where criminal and arrest records hinder individuals from finding new employment or housing.
Reasons and what this means
This was reported several days ago from Akil Roper, chief counsel for return for the noncommercial Legal Services of latest Jersey, says they expect a flood of inquiries concerning the law. . People who stand to benefit the most are those who have successfully completed drug court, or court-ordered rehabilitation, he said.
His statement is as following: “I think that the atmosphere has changed a bit in New Jersey, and we are taking a view now that individuals who suffer from drug addiction, and as a result were subject to the criminal justice system, they should not be incarcerated,” he said. “Or, if they are incarcerated, they should have paths available to them to expunge their records and re-enter society during their rehabilitation.”
It is important to emphasize that also, individuals with a conviction of a significant, guilty crime, and up to 2 less-serious, would be eligible to have those criminal records removed.
“Previously, if you had an indictable conviction, it prevented you from expunging disorderly persons convictions off of your record,” he said. He calls it a “minor point, but not minor to those who have an indictable conviction and up to two disorderly persons convictions”, he added.
Also, the new law can permit those whose cases were laid-off while not a finding of guilt to cancel the records of that arrest, which we can’t believe is still in play.
Legal Services of latest Jersey has created a special on-line program to assist with this, referred to as “Clearing Your Record on-line.” The program provides what Legal Services calls a “step-by-step toolkit” to form it easier to navigate through the new expungement law.
The goal of this law is to increase the housing and employment chance of people that have had minor criminal and non-violent charges.
Final Thoughts
This is a good move and could really offer relief to many families in New Jersey. Minor criminal charge for non-violent crimes are nothing compared to the damage this can currently cause to any family. Often we see many different situations where well-established family have problems to get a new condo or house just because of such charges. What are your thoughts? Is this a good or a bad move? Could this have impact on the overall standard of living in our country or this is a minor change that will represent a meaningful change?
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