当小约翰尼·沃勒., was 18 years old, he was tried, convicted and sent to prison in Nebraska. He served his time and returned to society, but quickly learned that although he was no longer behind bars, 他也不是真正的自由. Living with a criminal record was like carrying around a heavy weight all the time.
沃勒说:“你不可能像人们告诉你的那样成功地重新融入社会。. “You’re lucky if you can find a decent job or a place to stay.”
当你必须在每一份工作或住房申请上勾选你被判有罪的方框时, 门关闭. 这就是为什么沃勒致力于帮助人们再次打开那些门的原因. 沃勒, who holds a bachelor's and master's degree, serves as program manager at the 法学院's Clear My Record Expungement Clinic.
诊所, founded in 2017 by retired law school dean, 艾伦岛羚, 倡导立法改革，使删除——封存过去犯罪记录的过程——在密苏里州更广泛地实施. The UMKC Expungement Clinic, which is affiliated with the project, represents low-income clients seeking expungement.
如果某人符合密苏里州法律的规定，法官可以撤销他们的定罪. With their record cleared, 过去的犯罪记录不会在背景调查中显示出来，他们也不需要在申请中披露自己的犯罪记录.
“With the bang of a gavel, 你可以做各种不同的你以前不能做的事情，因为你不需要勾选那些框, 沃勒说。.
沃勒本人在最初定罪22年后，于2018年被判无罪. The decision opened opportunities for him to pursue his education, 他说，人们离开监狱后，经常跟着他们创业，并作为一名倡导者来减轻附带损害.
“毒品指控和盗窃罪是UMKC删除诊所最常见的删除案例,悉尼·拉格斯代尔说.D. 他是杜鲁门奖学金获得者，帮助监督那些通过诊所处理案件的学生律师.
“清除诊所”工作背后的使命与客户过去犯罪的细节关系不大，而是更多地关注这些犯罪所带来的负担, even years after fines are paid or a prison sentence is completed.
“People are being wrongly held back from living their lives,” Ragsdale says.
自密苏里大学堪萨斯分校开设诊所以来，其学生律师已成功协助了近12名客户.
其中一位客户是来自纽约的男子，他在一次越野旅行中经过密苏里州时被发现携带大麻. 那次不幸的进站导致了他吸毒的记录，也使他无法得到他需要的升职来养家糊口.
另一位客户因为酒后驾车被定罪而无法租到公寓或抵押贷款买房. That mistake from his past kept him struggling to survive in low-income housing.
第三个客户, a former childcare worker, 被指控危害儿童因为她在野外旅行时把一个学生落在后面. Although the child was unharmed, 这个错误让她在经济和情感上挣扎了好几年.
“She was out in the world doing her best,” Ragsdale says. “她爱这些孩子，但犯了一个大多数父母在生命中的某个时刻都会犯的错误.”
As with most clients the clinic represents, a mistake was still wreaking havoc on the woman’s life years later. 幸运的是, like the man from New York with the drug charge and the man with the DUI conviction, she was granted an expungement and given the opportunity to finally start moving on.
“The collateral consequences of convictions are just brutal,苏尼说。, 继续监督“清除我的记录”项目，并为诊所的学生律师授课. “There are the obvious things; people have trouble getting jobs, housing, public benefits and loans. The consequences cut across all areas, such as a parent not being permitted to go on their kid’s school trip. It affects every aspect of their lives.”
When the Clear My Record Project started, Suni hoped the expungement process in Missouri could be almost automatic. 她想也许一个计算机程序可以有效地找到符合条件的客户，并帮助他们完成所需的文书工作，帮助他们重新开始. But as quickly as that idea arose, it became clear that Missouri’s expungement statute, substantially revised in 2018, was written far too narrowly for such automation.
“The statute was very complex and confusing,” Suni recalls. “很明显，这种通过数字化流程来帮助那些没有律师的人的尝试是行不通的.”
A key issue was finding anyone who met the law’s narrow qualifications. 例如, only certain non-violent and non-sex crimes are eligible for expungement. 此外, the law allows for the expungement of only one felony in a lifetime, 只有两项轻罪. As the 2018 law was written, 犯重罪或轻罪后，要等上7年或3年才能申请赦免. 此外, 有未决案件, even for a traffic violation, or owing fines or fees can prevent obtaining expungement.
而数以百计的潜在客户迫切需要一份清白的记录才能继续前进, these strict requirements put expungement out of reach for most.
“We discovered that very few people were fully eligible,” Suni says.
苏尼和其他参与“清除我的记录”项目的人开始利用他们与客户打交道的经验来推动改变，让更多人了解这个过程，他们已经取得了一些成功. 例如, 该法律经过修订，将重罪的等待期从7年缩短至3年, and to one year from three for a misdemeanor, and a few new crimes were made eligible.
Suni says the changes are an improvement, but more is needed. She and others across the state are advocating for additional legislative changes, 包括将定罪的终身限制增加到两项重罪和三项轻罪. 其他潜在的变化包括为16至25岁之间犯罪的人提供更多的回旋余地, and for those whose offenses occurred when they were addicted to drugs.
倡导者还在推动废除目前对任何寻求豁免的人征收的250美元附加费. 拉格斯代尔说, on top of other required court fees, 使许多低收入客户无法获得费用减免，他们挣得太多了, but will still struggle just to pay for food and housing.
“It is way too expensive,” she says.
在未来的道路上，支持者希望看到密苏里州的删除程序自动执行. Once someone qualifies under the law, the state would initiate the process with no lawyer or court filing required.
While advocates say the Missouri expungement process is still too complex and narrow, it has improved since UMKC’s clinic began. 这家诊所的合格客户越来越多，而且对于数百个潜在病例来说，这个过程也更有效率.
Of the dozen expungements obtained through UMKC’s clinic, ten of those were granted during the last six months. In January, four of the clinic’s clients obtained expungement on the same day.
“It was extremely exciting,凯莉·戈麦斯说, a third-year law student who works as a research assistant at the clinic. “Until that point, we’d only had one or two happen.”
“在任何情况下, expungement is a second chance the client desperately needs,贝利·贝克说。, a second-year law student who also serves as a research assistant in the clinic.
“I’ve seen how deeply the past mistakes someone makes, particularly when they were younger, 会困扰他们,贝克补充道, 前社会工作者. “Expungement is a way to move on.”
Some are hopeful for the future. 该诊所支持的许多条款在密苏里州参众两院都获得了通过，如果州长签署，这些条款将成为法律.