(Host) The state Senate is considering a plan that would permit adults to get some criminal records erased if the crime happened when they were juveniles.
Bennington Senator Dick Sears says he introduced the bill after a constituent was prohibited from going on a school fieldtrip with her grandchildren.
It was because the woman had been convicted of a drug offense 25 years earlier.
Sears says minor criminal offenses in a person’s past have become a barrier.
(Sears) "Right now more than 80 percent of U.S. employers perform a criminal background check on prospective employees. And so if you have a record no matter how old it is, will you be able to get that job."
(Host) The Senate bill would allow a person to ask a court to "expunge" records of a nonviolent misdemeanor conviction.
They would have to wait 10 years before making the request. And they could not have been convicted of a felony during that period.
If granted, the person would be viewed under the law as if they’d never been convicted in the first place.