1 IN 3 AMERICANS HAVE AN FBI FILE
MORE PEOPLE HAVE CRIMINAL RECORDS THAN EVER BEFORE
In some rather shocking news, 1 in 3 Americans now has a file in the FBI’s criminal database. These records, unless they are sealed or expunged, last for 110 years. Young people are the most impacted by a criminal record — it can impact their job prospects and credit. Importantly, the FBI database will contain a criminal record for a person even if their case was dismissed.
More and more people are arrested for minor crimes each year. High school students are arrested for conducting science experiments or for writing a story (a fictional story) about shooting a dinosaur. It’s clear that “zero tolerance” policies on crime lead to the arrest and creation of a permanent criminal record of children who should have never been arrested.
All these arrests result in permanent records, and those permanent records can have a lasting impact for when people try to buy homes, apply for college, or interview for jobs. Statistically only 10% of people arrested and convicted of a crime attend college, while 37% of people who have never been arrested attend college.
If you have been arrested and even convicted, it is possible to seal and possibly expunge this record. A criminal record doesn’t have to follow you for the rest of your life.