Felons to receive second chance

North Carolina white-collar criminals who display good behavior would get their records expunged under a bill proposed Tuesday in the state Senate.

The bill, introduced by Sen. David Weinstein, D-Robeson, would take the convictions off criminals’ records if they are not convicted of anything other than a traffic violation in the 10 years after they finish their sentence.

“There are people at home who have made bad decisions in their youth,” Weinstein said. “They have served their time and made restitutions but still have a felony on their record.”

Many such criminals in Weinstein’s district have had trouble getting jobs because of their records, he said, even though they have not committed crimes since their convictions.

“It’s just not fair,” he said. “We all make mistakes in life. It shouldn’t hang over your head for the rest of your life.”

N.C. attorney Douglas Kingsbery, a specialist in criminal law, said a lack of employment opportunities can drive felons to more criminal actions.

“The bill gives a convicted felon the incentive to get his or her life cleaned up and straightened out,” Kingsbery said.

UNC law professor Richard Myers said the way the public views criminal records is being changed by the information age.

Technology has made these records more easily available, he said, allowing convictions to tarnish people’s reputations for a longer period of time.

Other legislators are interested in clearing the records and names of their constituents, Weinstein said.

Sen. Ellie Kinnaird, D-Orange, is among the seven other senators who co-sponsored the bill.

Weinstein said he has been trying for more than four years to expunge the records of his constituents.

The precedent for the bill is found in statutes that expunge the records of first-time minor drug offenders, Kingsbery said.

Under that law, after up to a year of probation, offenders can have the criminal charge dismissed and file to have their arrest record expunged.

“North Carolina has had expungement statutes work pretty well,” Kingsbery said.

But Myers said there are a couple of underlying concerns presented by the bill, including potential perjury by felons.

Myers questioned whether it would be legal for felons who have had their criminal records expunged to say they have never been convicted of a felony when appearing in court.

“It could create some interesting problems in the future,” Myers said.

Myers said the other concern is the possibility of a “talented fraudster” committing more crimes after getting his or her record expunged.

As part of the expungement procedures, the bill will purge any DNA record or profile of the felon in the DNA databank held by the State Bureau of Investigation.

All records of the conviction will be filed away, able to be seen only by judges of the N.C. General Court of Justice to determine if a charged person has a history of expunged convictions.

“White-collar crimes are petty crimes,” Weinstein said.

“They are not major crimes. This bill will give them a second chance at life.”

Contact the State & National Editor at stntdesk@unc.edu.