REDEEM Act could give youthful offenders a second chance

This country accounts for five percent of the world population, yet we have 25% of the incarcerated population. We have seven times the proportion of incarcerated citizens as Spain, which has the highest incarceration rate in Europe.

The United States simply incarcerates too high a percentage of its population, and that means there’s a good chance that you or someone you love will wind up with a criminal record for something, which will make it more difficult to find housing, employment and live any semblance of a meaningful life.

The Record Expungement Designed to Enhance Employment (REDEEM) Act, introduced by Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) and Sen. Cory Booker (D-N.J.), is intended “to provide for the sealing or expungement of records relating to Federal nonviolent criminal offenses”. The REDEEM Act would automatically and permanently seal the criminal records of juvenile non-violent offenders, and expunge the records of offenders under the age of 15, if they have not reoffended after three years. It would also allow adult non-violent offenders to petition the courts to have their records sealed if they have not reoffended a year after the completion of their sentence.

It would give tens of thousands of people the opportunity to come back from a stupid mistake made when they were young.

FAC Strongly encourages our members to contact their Senators and encourage them to support The REDEEM Act (S. 675).