How or why are criminal records expunged? One has to expunge a criminal record if it is necessary to do so to clear a person’s name. The term is also used when criminal records are destroyed, sealed, or returned to the individual or individual criminal records to government agencies. Whatever process is used to clean up a person’s records is called expungement.
Why would one want to expunge criminal records? There are two forces at work here. While many would like to have access to a person’s criminal record just to be sure when hiring or renting their house, a person with a record would feel it unfair that the stigma of perhaps a misdemeanor can overshadow him for the rest of his life. his life. Whether you’re looking for a job, looking for a loan, renting an apartment, or even dating someone online, if you have a black mark in your past, it’s sure to hang over you like a sword of Damocles. Statutes have been issued when criminal records can be expunged. Sure, there is a tension between the individual with the record and the society that wants the records preserved, but in real life, with judicial help, the fact remains that criminal records can be expunged.
How are these records deleted? They could be sealed or destroyed or returned, as we were saying. On this matter, however, states tend to have different views. However, if court proceedings are found in the individual’s favor, the records must, by law, be returned to the individual. Arrest records, for example, will need to be returned by law enforcement authorities. This is usually done when the case cannot be proven and there is no more incriminating evidence that can be gathered in that particular case. Then, criminal justice cannot be pursued either and the records are released to the individual.
All criminal records held by any criminal justice agency will also, by law, be destroyed or sealed. You will find that this usually happens when the person has been convicted of something that is covered by a special statute and the process did not lead to a conviction. The presiding court then has the authority to seal and destroy any records that fall within this realm of having the crime fall under a specific category and no conviction has been handed down.
Courts also have the power to expunge the criminal records of the judiciary. To some extent, though with a more limited capacity, this power may also be exercised over records held in other branches of state government.
