Expungement

It’s actually much easier to break the law than you think. If you’re a driver, can you really say with full confidence that you have never exceeded the speed limit? Can you be sure that you never made an error in judgment when you were younger? It’s difficult for a...

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...

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...

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...

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,...

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...

So far, 18 states plus the District of Columbia have legalized marijuana, including Washington State. And 37 states have decriminalized cannabis at least for medicinal purposes. The national trend is toward treating legalization and away from punishing individuals for...

If you have not had your criminal record expunged, it can be easy to be skeptical. Hearing how expungement dramatically changed other people's lives might show how powerful of a tool it can be under Washington state law. Even if you were charged decades ago, just...

Dealing with the law in Washington State tends not to be cheap. To solve a legal problem, you are probably going to have to spend some money. If you look at these expenses as an investment in your future, the bills might not seem so onerous. This includes expunging...