Data
Following decades of overcriminalization, between 70 million and 100 million Americans—1 in 3—now have some type of criminal record.
A criminal record can impact every aspect of life as nearly 9 in 10 employers, 4 in 5 landlords, and 3 in 5 colleges use background checks to screen applicants.
People with criminal records are half as likely as other job seekers to get a callback from an employer.
Nearly half of all U.S. children now have at least one parent with a criminal record.
The barriers associated with parents’ records have negative consequences for children’s cognitive development, school performance, and employment outcomes in adulthood.
People with criminal records who have remained crime-free for 4 to 7 years are no more likely than the general population to commit a new crime.
Recidivism declines steadily the longer an individual remains conviction-free. And, if an individual is going to re-offend, they typically do so within 3 years.
In a petition-based record-clearance system, just 6.5% of eligible people successfully get their records cleared.
On average, the wages of people who receive expungements increase by more than 20 percent within the first year.
Excluding people with criminal records out of the labor market the U.S. economy loses an estimated $87 billion per year in lost GDP.
Sources
Alfred Blumstein, Kiminori Nakamura, “Extension of Current Estimates of Redemption Times: Robustness Testing, Out-of-State Arrests, and Racial Differences,” Nov. 2012. https://www.ncjrs.gov/pdffiles1/nij/grants/240100.pdf
See Blumstein and Nakamura, supra n.7 at 11.
“Michigan Set-Asides Found to Increase Wages and Reduce Recidivism,” Collateral Consequences Resource Center. Federal Sentencing Reporter (2018) 30 (4-5): 361–362. https://doi.org/10.1525/fsr.2018.30.4-5.361