Tampa Criminal Defense Attorney Argues For Sealed Criminal Records
Tampa criminal defense attorneys represent people who have an illicit background, seal or expunge their criminal records. Because of this, the question always arises, should employers be able to find out if a new job applicant has served time in prison for a serious crime, even if that offense took place many years ago. Should every day people learn that the police arrest thousands of persons for insubstantial reasons which prosecutors refuse to press charges against every year?
Criminal Justice experts and lawmakers in several states want to cut off public access to this kind of information with laws that seal most public records.
Cutting off public access, by reporters, data collection firms, employers or editors, to a wide array of conviction or arrest records is like erasing history. It is a dangerous game that would hinder employers trying to screen employees and impede journalists from probing public corruption.
According to a Tampa DUI attorney, there are always exceptions to every rule, such as when former President George W. Bush had his DUI record sealed, a fact that came out just days before the 2000 presidential election; it would not be prudent to seal records that contain evidence about hazardous products, priests who are accused of abusing children or an incompetent doctor or nurse.
On the flip side of the coin are those people whose criminal record is made up of a one time incident that took place over 10 years ago and was probably a misunderstanding in which their lawyer at the time could not plead their way out of. These are the types of criminal records that could and should be sealed by Tampa criminal attorneys.
Many states allow ex-convicts to request that courts seal their criminal records if they’ve been free from arrests for a specific period of time, usually 10 years or longer. Some states, such as Ohio, limit this offer to first offenders. Many proponents argue that the arrests that don’t result in charges or convictions can unfairly ruin a person’s ability to obtain employment, credit or a mortgage. The damage is compounded for individuals who may have served prison time and then gone straight.
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