Trial Magazine

When Lisa’s husband came home drunk one night and threatened to kill her, she was terrified. She called the police when her husband began choking her. During the struggle, Lisa scratched him, drawing blood. Her husband, a city worker, knew the officers who arrived on the scene. The police arrested Lisa instead.

Lisa eventually divorced her husband, who agreed not to file charges. But years later, after Lisa applied for a nursing license in Illinois, she discovered the arrest was still on her record. Lisa showed her employer that no charges had been filed and eventually obtained her nursing license, but her arrest record made it impossible to become licensed in several other states, jeopardizing her dream of being a travel nurse.

Stories like Lisa’s inspired Alton, Ill., attorney Ted Gianaris to organize Simmons Hanly Conroy’s Madison County Expungement Program, which has helped more than 100 people remove past minor offenses, misdemeanors, and other nonviolent crimes from their records. Gianaris knew that many of these people lived with their pasts looming over their futures—like Lisa, who had no idea that a painful event from long ago might prevent her from achieving her career goals.

"People become second-class applicants or get excluded completely. It prevents people who really want to do better with their lives from achieving that."

“We knew it was a problem,” Gianaris said. “It’s disconcerting that it’s not only convictions but arrests that turn into permanent records. It’s a big problem, because it prevents people from having a fair shot at jobs, public assistance, or getting into certain trade schools—all things that require background checks. People become second-class applicants or get excluded completely. It prevents people who really want to do better with their lives from achieving that.”

Many employers and landlords ask potential hires or tenants whether they have been arrested or convicted of a crime, and these past offenses also show up in background checks. Expunging past arrests—or sealing past convictions—removes them from a person’s formal record and also means that someone can truthfully say “no” when asked about them, Gianaris explained.

There are, however, significant hurdles for those looking to have their records expunged. For people unfamiliar with the legal system, it can be a particularly challenging process. From obtaining the complete rap sheet to researching the different charges listed to paying the associated fees, the expungement process often requires more time and money than people can commit.

Lisa agrees—the process to obtain her records was lengthy and emotionally taxing. “It took quite some time to get copies of all the court records,” she explained. “Back then, things were not computerized or as easily at hand as they are now. It was very time-consuming, and it was hard for me. It brought up a whole lot of bad memories.”

To remove many of these hurdles, Gianaris’s firm reached out to other members of the community to establish its first “Expungement Day,” partnering with the Madison County Circuit Court, the Madison County State’s Attorney’s Office, and the Land of Lincoln Legal Assistance Foundation. The partnership offered attorneys and their clients a wealth of resources.

As Gianaris headed to his firm’s offices in June 2016 for Expungement Day, he worried there might be more lawyers than clients. But more than 200 people were there seeking help. “It was quite a day,” he recalled. “It created its own energy—it was amazing. We all locked arms to attack the problem.”

All of the organizations dedicated time and resources, but they also helped with the financial burden. “Two associate circuit judges came from the Madison courthouse,” Gianaris explained. “And if people were unable to pay the filing fee and could prove that they were indigent, the judges would sign an order waiving the fees on the spot. People were able to apply for their expungement petition without being turned away for not having a filing fee.”

Because the firm helped Lisa expunge her arrest record, she became a travel nurse able to work in any state. And Lisa was only one of the people who had their lives changed through expungement. Last September, the firm held another volunteer day—“Second Chance Saturday”—and this time, the program was able to help even more people, given the recent passage of a bill that expanded the number of convictions eligible to be sealed under Illinois law.

“We are incredibly proud of the time our attorneys, community volunteers, and the courthouse have donated, and we hope to continue supporting efforts going forward,” Gianaris said. “We were giving people a second chance.”

Diane M. Zhang is an associate editor with Trial magazine.