This past spring, when the May 2019 issue of the ABA Journal arrived from the printer, Managing Editor Kevin Davis made plans to meet with Steve Price, whose face graced the cover. Davis wanted to hand-deliver a few copies and say thanks. Price was a formerly incarcerated man who talked with Davis about his struggles to make it on the outside.
Formerly incarcerated people have a difficult time separating themselves from their criminal histories, which makes getting jobs a struggle. Even when they’re eligible to get their records sealed or expunged, most don’t go through the process because they are either unaware of how to do it or lack the legal help they need to get it done.
According to the National Inventory of Collateral Consequences of Conviction of the Council of State Governments (a project launched by the ABA Criminal Justice Section in 2014), there are more than 44,000 state and federal laws and regulations that can stand in the way of the person getting back on their feet, and the commission is seeking ways to curb those barriers.
Expungement and sealing of records will help people with criminal records move forward with their lives, says Lucian Dervan, chair of the ABA Criminal Justice Section.
While the United States has consistently put more people in prison than any other country, it has come up short in helping rebuild their lives once they’re released. More than 600,000 people leave the nation’s prisons every year with little more than a bus ticket and 50 bucks. Within five years, more than half of former state inmates are back inside.
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