The bipartisan team that rallied House support for last year’s federal sentencing changes is drafting new legislation to clean up the existing criminal records of nonviolent drug offenders, a centerpiece of their efforts to pass further reforms.
Reps. Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) and Douglas A. Collins (R-Ga.) are discussing how to potentially expunge the records of people who were convicted of drug crimes before minimum sentencing requirements were reduced and to restore their eligibility to apply for certain jobs, both lawmakers said Thursday. Even in cases where people have served their time, criminal records can often keep them from rejoining the workforce, and the change could let people “really reset and restart their lives,” Jeffries said.
“What is being contemplated is removing the stain that has been put on their life’s journey as a result of a nonviolent drug offense, often occurring at a very adolescent stage of their life,” he added.
[For more on this story by Karoun Demirjian, go to https://www.washingtonpost.com/powerpost/next-step-in-criminal-justice-reform-could-target-jobs-for-ex-convicts-marijuana-law/2019/01/17/c105d8be-1a74-11e9-88fe-f9f77a3bcb6c_story.html?utm_term=.83be5da29d77]
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