Mar 13, 2017 3 min read

The February jobs report that was released by the Labor Department Friday was sure to put a spring in the step of those seeking work and politicians wishing to take credit for a robust employment environment: 235,000 jobs were added, beating expectations. Unemployment has now been below 5 percent for 18 months, something that was hard to imagine in the grim days of 2008 and 2009, when the economy was hemorrhaging thousands of jobs every month.

The U.S. economy, we’ve been told, is nearing the point of full employment, where everyone who wants a job can find a job.

There’s one group of people, however, who always have a hard time getting off the sidelines, even when “Help Wanted” signs proliferate – individuals with criminal records. There are 68 million Americans who have some kind of criminal offense on their record, and that can be an albatross when they are trying to find housing and employment or get an education. Being unable to pass a criminal background check and earn a paycheck means that some former offenders end up offending again, at a cost to both them and society at large.

One way to combat this is to have records expunged for relatively low-level misdeeds if an offender has not racked up any additional arrests. Expungement would apply to such “summary” offenses as disorderly conduct, harassment and retail theft, along with small-scale misdemeanors like loitering or arrests that do not result in a conviction, and are more than 10 years old. An expungement would take the offense out of public view, though law enforcement would still have access to the record.

And, no, an expungement would not be applicable to violent crimes or other forms of serious wrongdoing.

As outlined in a story in the Monday edition of the Observer-Reporter, former offenders who would like to have their records expunged can find out if that is possible when a pro bono expungement day happens at Washington City Mission, March 24, starting at 9 a.m. Attorneys will be there from Southwestern PA Legal Services, Neighborhood Legal Services, Duquesne University, and the Washington County Bar Association.

“It’s amazing how many people want to get out and want to do better,” Mary Bates, an attorney and volunteer at Washington City Mission, told us. “That’s one of the reasons why I got involved and stay involved, because I’ve seen the success stories. People really do want to change. Yes, they’ve gotten themselves into this situation. Why not help them achieve their goals? It’s for the best for everybody.”

Why not, indeed?

It could prove to be a bustling few hours at Washington City Mission. An expungement day in Philadelphia in November at six locations saw more than 1,800 people sign up, according to the Philadelphia Inquirer. The event happened soon after Act 5 went into effect, a statewide law that allows the sealing of records if, among other things, offenders have fewer than four misdemeanor convictions, if they have not been arrested or convicted of a crime for 10 years and if their record is free of felonies.

State Rep. Jordan A. Harris, a Democrat who represents a portion of the Philly area and was an Act 5 sponsor, pointed out to the Inquirer that thoughtless tough-on-crime policies sometimes end up leaving offenders who have paid their debt to society on public assistance.

Or, even worse, they slip into recidivism.

“That’s not being tough on crime,” Harris said. “That’s being dumb on crime.”