How Many Virginia Democrats Does It Take To Scrub a Criminal Record?
Lauren Penn was convicted of a felony in 2008. She says she’s spent the last 12 years trying to make it right, but still struggles to find meaningful work despite her degrees and certifications. (Photo: Alex Scribner/VPM News)
Virginia Democrats say they want to give people with criminal histories a second chance by scrubbing their records once they’ve completed their sentences. But legislators have been unable to agree on how it should be done, getting stuck on key details, including which offenses should be eligible for expungement and whether they should be scrubbed automatically.
Prisons Are Releasing People Without COVID-19 Tests Or Quarantines People getting out of prison are bringing the virus outside because lockups aren’t taking basic precautions. Overtaxed halfway houses and other reentry programs are left to pick up the slack. Nacola McNeil in front of the Leading Into New Communities (LINC) transitional housing in Wilmington, NC, in January. Damola Akintunde for The Marshall Project
Nacola McNeil warned officials at the North Carolina Correctional Institute for Women that coronavirus was spreading in her unit. That virus is here,” she says she told corrections officers in the Raleigh-based prison in April. “What makes you think our unit is exempt?”