Anna Liz Nichols
LANSING, Mich. Julia Elkins wants to go on school field trips with her daughter like other parents, but felonies from almost a decade ago related to her drug addiction will keep her ineligible unless she gets her criminal record expunged under new laws in Michigan that took effect this month.
Seven years of sobriety, a good job, a house and the transformative hard work it took to build a good life isn’t enough when she has to check “yes” next to the “have you ever been convicted of a felony” box on housing, school, job and other applications, Elkins said.