(Lansing-MPRN) - More low-level offenders will be able to have their criminal records erased from public records undera billGovernorRick Snyder signed into law Monday.
People will be able to ask the court that convicted them to erase up to one felony or two misdemeanors.
“We really think that this gives people with records a really meaningful second chance,” said Shelli Weisberg with the ACLU of Michigan. “It’ll improve their prospects of getting a job, of getting housing, of getting education, and, I think, just simply becoming a contributing citizen – and that’s what people with records want.”
Some convictions do not apply under the new law. Those include crimes that could come with life sentences, domestic abuse, and drunk driving.
The governor also signed a bill creating a new commission to find ways to cut Michigan’s prison spending without compromising public safety.
Michigan currently spends about $2 billion a year on its corrections system. Advocates say much of that money is wasted “warehousing” criminals who have already served their minimum sentences and who pose no threat to public safety.
The bill was originally part of a larger package of bills that would have gone much farther toward overhauling Michigan’s corrections system. The rest of the bills failed to clear the Legislature before the end of its “lame duck” session.
Law enforcement groups and Michigan Attorney General Bill Schuette put forward a strong last-minute effort to defeat legislation that would have made big changes to Michigan’s sentencing, parole, and probation systems.