Childhood can seem like it comes and goes so fast. One moment you are playing with your friends. The next, you are officially an adult and expected to earn your own way. Unfortunately, any criminal charges you faced during your childhood will not go away so fast. At...
Protecting Your Future With Compassion And Understanding
Year: 2022
Does Washington need to update expungement and redemption laws?
Washington's redemption laws provide fresh opportunities for those with a criminal offense or arrest in their history. There is the newer Redemption or Second Chance Law, which allows those sentenced as minors to request a review of their case. There is also record...
Expunging employees’ criminal records can benefit businesses too
While finding work with a criminal record can be difficult, many people in the Seattle-Tacoma area manage to do it. Obviously, having a steady income is a huge part of moving on from mistakes made in the past. But having a good job does not mean that your record is no...
Congress considers combining marijuana expungement, banking bills
Federal dollars for marijuana expungements A bill currently making its way through Congress called the Harnassing Opportunities for Pursuing Expungement (HOPE) Act would try to help rectify this. The bill would send money to states to fund marijuana-crime expungement...
Washington Supreme Court Recommends Sealing Juvenile Criminal Records
If an old conviction from adult criminal court following you around for years seems unfair, imagine if your conviction happened when you were 14 or 15. A mistake you made when you were a confused or immature teenager should not hold you back from getting an education,...
Automatic record sealing law will help people get hired
As discussed several times in this blog, Washington State law does not automatically expunge or seal criminal records. If you have ever been convicted of a crime in this state, it will stay on your record for the rest of your life unless you take action to request...
How much could expunging my record cost?
Most people in the Seattle-Tacoma region who get their criminal records expunged find more and better job opportunities. It usually does not take long before their income and quality of life have gotten much better. More money in the bank can mean a nicer vehicle and...
Finding a job with a criminal record can be very tough
Getting out of prison is huge. You can put the indignities and lack of freedom of prison life behind you and reunite with your family and friends. But that doesn't mean going back to civilian life is easy for someone with a criminal record. Though you might have paid...
The differences between a COD and a CROP
You may have heard of the Certificate of Discharge (COD) and the Certificate of Restoration of Opportunity (CROP). The names are somewhat similar and they both have to do with restoring your civil rights after completing a criminal sentence. But they are not the same...
Attitudes toward expunging marijuana possession charges are changing
Over the past few years, more and more Americans have decided that marijuana should not be illegal. It was not so long ago that pot was illegal in all 50 states and under federal law. With states like Washington leading the way, cannabis is increasingly allowed for...