Should felonies be like points on a driving record?

Tifani • A&E 👩🏼‍🦲👩🏼‍🦲first time parent, non-binary and proud, 🤰🏽💁🏼‍♂️

Let’s say for felonies of drug possession or drug use or weapons charges

Basically anything that isn’t murder

Felonies can stick with you for your whole life and can impact being able to gain a meaningful job and housing so you can give yourself a better life

After a set amount of years, should they fall off of your record if you haven’t reoffended within that time?

This would work similarly to driving records where you have a point or two for 5 years

500 views • 6 upvotes • 40 comments

COMMENT (40)

ri

Posted at
Drug possession, sure. Selling or distribution, no. Any violent crimes, no. Any attempt of violent crime, no.

Ti

Tifani • Feb 22, 2020
That’s very true. Idk the day the war on drugs is just a blip in history books, it will be an incredibly dayb

Ti

Tifani • Feb 22, 2020
Exactly! Their prefrontal cortex is way under developed as well and taking into account the likelihood that they are very poor and their schools aren’t properly funded creates huge gaps for it to take place.

ri

ri • Feb 22, 2020
I guess so but I think charging minors could just be handled differently altogether

Na

Posted at
Drug possession and drug use should not be felonies in the first place

Na

Na • Feb 23, 2020
Is there something funny?

su

su • Feb 23, 2020
Bahahahha

Ti

Tifani • Feb 22, 2020
Agreed! I think they are just some of the easier ones to conceptualize other than some of the other felonies. Especially for people who are pro prison and especially private prison

Me

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No, they should remain on your record. Your future employers and partners have a right to know.

Ta

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Me as a felon who hasn’t been in trouble in almost 8 years with no violent crimes believe that i should be given another chance. Yes i made mistakes but they were all drug related. I think that if the “offender” gets some type of therapy and learns how to handle life then it should be forgiven if they are willing to take random drug tests. I’m almost 5 years sober from everything. I was an emotional user but once i started i wouldn’t stop. But this last time i got sober, i was done, i wanted a better life. Now that better life is hard to achieve because I’m pre-judged based on my past.

🎀

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Definitely for drug possession and drug use because it can have an affect on your driving.

J

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I think a better alternative would be to give them the felons the option to work it off their record somehow. Like if they did so much community service or went through a process to show that they have changed their life

Ti

Tifani • Feb 22, 2020
Yeah I hear you but I mean moreso prison based rehab. I think it’s Sweden or so their prisons more closely mimic dorm rooms and people are offered college classes( very select prisons in the us still offer these) along with trade programs and therapy and look at fixing reasons that lead the person to doing so moreso than just sticking them in cages. I think this would be cool for a lot of different felonies and maybe even aggravated assult( like in a bar fight) that could look at therapy and anger management

J

J • Feb 22, 2020
It’s definitely a hard one. Sometimes not even rehab works long-term once the program is completed. My dad is an alcoholic and once went through it for a short time because he thought it would help him when defending himself to family. So much can change very quick.

Ti

Tifani • Feb 22, 2020
Yeah I know the only thing that does work is rehabilitation which is not really what the prison system is so that’s totally fucked. Maybe like a certain amount of hours every year for community service? Idk it’s hard just because the jobs a felon can get can be long hours with little pay or odd hours so it may be hard trying to do that and community service ya know? Idk it’s a hard one

M

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Hmm... depends on the felony. It's so broad. But yeah, I think for low level, non violent crimes, people should get a break after a set period of time. I mean why are get basically telling people you made one dumb mistake at 20 and now it will haunt you forever until you die!Like a friends sister was caught and arrested with some weed at like 19/20. Like a pretty small amount. But we are seriously saying that this one thing should have to be brought up like when she is 50? Its almost ten years later and it still there of course and she has nothing else. I personally do no have a record, never been to jail, never had anything with the law except a couple of speeding tickets. But like I think its crazy we are basically creating an unclass of people for small crimes!

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Honestly yes they should. The purpose behind convicting someone like that is to not only ensure public safety but to REHABILITATE the behavior. For me all crimes with the exception of murder, rape, sexual abuse crimes any child molestation etc. should be eligible for exspongement. Having a felony record can be very damaging to someone who is trying to get their lives right. A lot of companies will hold something against someone (esp minorities) that they did YEARS ago even after completing courses to stay in track and to me that’s discrimination. If someone can create a completely new safe life why should their record hold them back from becoming more successful? If they have proven themselves worthy to complete the proper rehab courses why should they continuously be prosecuted for their mistakes?People need to understand why people commit certain crimes. Yes there are plenty of people who are just assholes and shouldn’t see the sunlight ever again, but there’s still ALOT of people who are just victims to their environment too. Sooo let’s start to consider them more than focusing on the menaces to society

Va

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I think a record it exactly what it is, a RECORD. Saying something comes off it like it never happened doesn’t seam accurate. Many people are able to avoid committing any felonies at all, and should have that considered as an advantage to them for not breaking the laws. I believe it is up to an employer to be given all of the facts and then to say ‘well, that was 10 years ago’ for themselves.People with college degrees do not get to change their grades on their transcripts after a certain period of time.. that D in International Studies could be available for the duration of their life... but as they move further from school and gain experiences and work them selves up the actual transcript becomes less important to an employer in favor of experience and they only care to know the degree exists.... same thing in a lot of ways..

Ka

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If there’s one thing I learned after getting away from my abuser it’s that just cos they don’t have recent charges doesn’t mean they haven’t been committing crimes. They could have no arrests for a certain period of time, that typically just means they didn’t get caught. I hate to be so pessimistic, I’m sure some people really do change but like... yeah. Esp cos if I start dating someone or smth I do a background check. I would be so much less safe if felonies expired like that, cos I wouldn’t even be able to know. Even some misdemeanors. Most domestic violence charges are misdemeanors. Even drug charges etc I want to be able to know. I’m sorry it follows them if they change but I also need to look out for my safety. Maybe I’m just paranoid tho