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MEGA - Drug/Legal issues impacting school/job

Cyc said:
This seems like a major breach of etiquette. According to the legal system, you're just as innocent, regardless of whether you were charged then found not guilty or it was dropped, or were never charged at all.

If this question was asked, I would wonder why the employer wanted this information, and what they would use it for, when deciding who is the best candidate for the job. I would also wonder, if they can't use that information to discriminate, why ask the question at all?
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Yeah that's what I thought, this is just what my lawyer told me a few weeks ago. He said pretty much no one asks that because if they were going to be that thorough they'd probably just do a full background check.

He said that arrest records (no convictions) are only really looked into for certain jobs. Apparently they do a very thorough background check when you take the bar, and for a lot of teaching positions and things like that.

I can't see how it would be a problem though if you were aquitted, because you're supposed to be innocent until proven guilty. Maybe some employers care about things like the charges being dropped, which usually involves a plea of no contest to the charges, which is an admission of guilt for the crime.

I don't really know, we have one hell of a confusing legal system.
 
I spent 6 month in prison for a felony + I ain't no loser now. U do not have to list charges 7 yrs after all probation etc is complete in the US. I know-I had to challenge it once. I do not believe my past dictates my future.
 
I was convicted of 6 felonies in 2003. I am not successful or happy, every job that I have held since I got out of prison has been menial and worthless. I am not undereducated and was in advanced placement classes in high school with a good GPA.

I was told that I cannot get my record expunged or even sealed because I was 19 at the time of my arrest, and the only way to get my record cleared is to:

1: Ask for an expungment when I turn 70
2: Die.
3: Get a pardon from the governor or president.

Every lawyer I spoke to has told me the same thing, such is life.
 
I seriously have gotten away with everything so far. I can't believe it though. I have had the cops called on me more than once. The last time I almost did get arrested though for assault but the other police officer who knew me told the one cop that he should not arrest me because he knows I'm a good kid and he didn't want my record to be fucked up. Yet I also am swearing at cops or testing them. I use sarcasm to the extreme and then the cops start turning red thinking that their yelling will scare me..... I broke and entered a house with these guys and my two friends, I didn't know it wasn't one of their house. I have ran from the cops with my friend and hid behind bushes (wasn't caught). I'm just worried my luck will run out though. Even just last weekend a cop saw us driving up into a closed school so he stopped the car but he didn't get out of his cruiser.... he was asking what we were doing. Then my friend said just turning around and the cop went oh okay. The whole trunk was filled with drugs but again I got away.
 
i wouldnt be surprised if extremely successful people sold drugs during school
but then again they didnt get caught
 
13-criminal mischief and trespassing, a few months later posession of cannibus, both of which were dismissed.

18-posession of cannibus (10 grams), intent to distribute (which i got because i had $1700 cash and a scale), completed probation and the charges were dismissed.

ive tried every branch of the military and no one wants me. right now im in my second semester of college and hopefully ill be successful.

Also, i did a few months in jail at age 18, but whoever processed me entered my name backwards, so the jail stint never shows up on background checks. guess i lucked out on that one...
 
fucked up my life.... been fixing it for the last 3 years

long story short.
-went to college after I graduated high school.
-Got addicted to OCs then heroin.
-Promptly flunked out
-Both my parents died
-Addiction intensified exponentially
-began a horrible journey through self-inflicted hell.
-Got arrested and picked up a felony. (possession)
-After years of addiction i finally pulled my shit together and got clean.
-Been clean for 3 years. i am 28.

I now have a steady job that i despise but i know i'm lucky to have it. i have been going to community college for the last year and have done an incredible job of turning my GPA around. I am going to graduate after the end of the fall semester and plan to go to a university. I will be a psychology major and I hope to get a job as some sort of counselor or social worker.

I live in Florida and I am very eager to use my educational opportunity as a means to leave the state and hopefully start completely fresh. i have recently come into some inheritance money from which i will be able to supply my basic needs from the income that it generates so money is not a huge concern.

My question is if anyone can recommend any good schools that won't cringe when i have to tell them about my criminal back ground. ideally it would be in a cool town and a school where i won't stick out like a sore thumb being a little bit older.

and if anyone has succeeded in turning their life around I would love to hear some words of encouragement.

Thanks
 
appreciate the kind words but i'm not at the finish line yet. I still have two more years of university then grad school then finding a job that won't focus on my felonious past before giving me a chance. but I am boiling over with pride knowing that I made it this far. never thought i would...
 
I have a pretty hefty criminal record though no felonies. I may be wrong, but I don't remember being asked about a criminal past on my college applications. I know for a fact that you won't be able to get student loans.

Honestly, I would just apply to a few schools and see what happens. Where you may run into trouble is when looking for a job after you graduate. But if you do two more years of undergrad and then two more years of grad school and I'm assuming you don't plan on using anymore, that's several years of having a clean record after your felony conviction. In my opinion, that counts for a lot.

I admire what you're doing. From now on you're gonna have to work hard in school and keep your record clean, but you can do it.

I wouldn't worry about being a bit older. I'm 31 and am the oldest of the grad students in my class, and I fit right in.
 
in and out of legal jams for 45 years . one could get away with all sorts of arrests and convictions prior to the fucking computer age.

first arrest was car theft and just fucking ignored the arraigning judge's instructions and never went to the trial.
i had a BATF firearm dealer licence for a few years.
now comes digital records and i can not buy a firearm because of that arrest.

i believe that i have a gold horseshoe up my ass as i have beaten banks out of relatively large sums of money. smuggled smack through asian airports when the penalty was hanging.
all manner of self defeating, illegal behavior and i never took a big fall for the stupidity of it all.

only once many years ago did courts martial i received fuck up a job prospect.
i have never worked a job that required piss tests - different era !

successful - yes as i worked and worked and worked . now on social security and two small pensions - it's fucking easy street .

you see i was conceived while my parents were standing up in a hammock - that's where the fucked-up-edness began in my life. ;-)
 
I'm not in the US, so I won't be much help with schools, but I do want to say that I really admire the path you're taking.

I always said that if I ever came into a large amount of money, that I would dedicate my life to the pursuit of knowledge. I think it's the type of thing that a lot of people say, but not many end up doing.

It's nice to see you following through. It would be so easy to just blow it all on creature comforts, but to see someone moving ahead responsibly -- I think that's pretty awesome.
 
Does anyone have any suggestions as to which states may contain employers with a more progressive attitude when it comes to hiring felons?. Pretty general, Question I know. I also know that Florida is one of the most backwards states when it comes to second chances. If I stay here I know that I have a long and fulfilling life of working retail or busing tables to look forward to, even with a degree.
 
This is not a state, but here in Canada I've had several (say around 20) jobs in my life, and I've never been screened for a criminal background check.

I believe one required a physical exam (no piss test or anything) but that's the extent of the pre-hiring screening that I've experienced.
 
Jerry Atrick said:
I have a pretty hefty criminal record though no felonies. I may be wrong, but I don't remember being asked about a criminal past on my college applications. I know for a fact that you won't be able to get student loans.

Honestly, I would just apply to a few schools and see what happens. Where you may run into trouble is when looking for a job after you graduate. But if you do two more years of undergrad and then two more years of grad school and I'm assuming you don't plan on using anymore, that's several years of having a clean record after your felony conviction. In my opinion, that counts for a lot.

I admire what you're doing. From now on you're gonna have to work hard in school and keep your record clean, but you can do it.

I wouldn't worry about being a bit older. I'm 31 and am the oldest of the grad students in my class, and I fit right in.
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I'm almost certain that most (if not all) undergraduate, 4 year universities ask that question on their applications. Could be wrong though.
 
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