We have all hear the terrible stories of people who are convicted of a crime. Their criminal history damages their reputation so severely that they struggle to complete even basic life tasks — and not necessarily because of their inability to get them done. It is almost always because of that criminal history coming back to haunt them. It can block them from jobs, make it impossible for them to register to vote and, in general, it can be a defeating (and repetitively so) factor.
Having a criminal history is something we all fear, in part because we think of this criminal history as being permanent. As if there is no way to ever clean this stain on your record. However, we are here to tell you today that you can do something about your criminal history, especially as it relates to drunk driving.
You can apply for what is called an “expungement.” This is sometimes referred to as “sealing your record” or an “expunction,” but let’s call it an expungement in this post. What an expungement does is it takes your criminal conviction and basically hides it. It sets the conviction aside so that you can go about your life without fear of the conviction continuously haunting you and stopping you from improving your life.
To be clear, an expungement is not necessarily a guarantee. Depending on your circumstances and depending on the laws that apply to you, an expungement may not be possible. However, if you are able to, getting an expungement can life a huge burden off of you, allowing you to move on from that mistake you made so long ago.
Source: FindLaw, “DUI Expungement,” Accessed Oct. 29, 2015