There are many people that have a criminal record and for those people that have only made a mistake and have redeemed themselves over the years, it is something that they must live with every day of their lives.  Living with a criminal record and trying to make a living is something that is very difficult for those people who have a criminal record.

There are many people with criminal records that fully deserve the records that they have acquired and must deal with the consequences that happen to them.  These people have committed violent crimes against others, robbed and caused many people pain in their lives.  People do make mistakes though and for those people who made such a mistake when they were younger but not quite a juvenile anymore, there mistakes stick with them for ever.  by making one mistake early on in life and from then on living the kind of life that society believe marks you as a good person does not erase the crime that you were charged with years ago and that has stuck by you when trying to find employment, or credit, or vote or any of the things that most people take for granted in life.

These people find it very difficult to exist how society believes they should and still stay out of trouble.  When a 19 year old kid gets charged with a felony for maybe drug possession it will stick with them for the rest of their life.  What if they can not afford the kind of attorney that can keep you out of jail and have all the charges dismissed, what do they do?  They do the best they can and try to find the best attorney they can afford.  The attorney may very well keep them out of jail and get them probation for some years but the criminal record stays with them for the rest of their lives.  So at the age of nineteen that kid has just put a nail in their coffin and it is very hard to move on from their.  By the age of 21 that kid has completely changed his or her life around and has not used drugs again since the arrest and has been working steadily for a few years and is doing just fine with their probation, happy not to be in jail.  Now by the age of 23 they decide that they would like to go on to high education.  Well they can not get any kind of government loans to help with their college because of the felony they had.  Also most of the careers they would choose would be cut off from them because of their felony charge.  What are they left with?  From one bad mistake that they have already paid for the rest of their life is now altered. 

Criminal records really do have a way of ruining some people’s lives.  Again this is not about the career criminal or even about someone who has committed a few crimes.  This is about kid’s making mistakes and then paying for them forever.  What happens to the man who is 18 and is dating a girl that is 17?  They have been dating for a few years since in their early teens and finally decide to have responsible sex.  So after dating many years and being responsible in their decision making the boy gets charged with statutory rape. It is against the law to have sex with a girl her age.  Well now he faces charges that will stick with him forever.  Even if the couple gets married and has 3 children he will have that charge with him forever and when looking for a job that will have to be reported.  Once that charge is seen most employers will not even want to know what the story behind it is.  Employers are not supposed to discriminate legally but we all know what really happens and most people just see the criminal record the criminal record that stays with these people affecting their lives forever.