The United States has a growing over populated prison and jail problem. Out of every 1,000 people 660 of them at some point in their lives will face a negative run in with the criminal justice system punishing them for life which for society as a whole can cause many problems. 

The United State's mass incarceration system is only second to that of North Korea making the U.S. one of the biggest prison systems in the world with over one third of our current population behind bars.

It's time we abolished criminal records from the public, because committing a crime in the past shouldn't be a life sentence especially when someone is trying to turn their lives around and unless a person with solid verifiable evidence and after better and more thorough investigation has been found beyond all doubt guilty of murder, child molestation or animal abuse then having a record becomes an unnecessary burden on many in society.

Criminal records aren't good for America or for it's citizens and it actually makes more crime than it protects us from.

Criminal records make it near impossible for formerly incarcerated inmates to:

•Get a job

•Receive Education

•Or to be able to receive decent housing.

This makes it harder to:

•Earn Money for food or housing.

• Strips them of their ability to provide and care for themselves and their families and

•Leads them back to commiting new crimes in order to survive and provide for their loved ones.

•Which in turn

•Causes them to get relocked up increasing recidivism rates causing tax payers to pay higher taxes for an increased prison population.

Other ways this hurts the overall community aside of taxes is if a person who was once a former inmate can't find a job then this can cause.

•Theft of money or property in order to buy food or to rent shelter in a slum shack in order to survive.

•Robbery/ Strong Armed Robbery for the same purpose stated above.

•Drug addiction to help alleviate the pain and depression as well as hopelessness of having no opportunities.

It may lead to:

•The murder of those who had the inmate locked up or of the cops who locked them up (in revenge killing.)

•The former inmate breaking into people's homes trying to live in it for shelter from being homeless.

•The former inmate being homeless and dying on the streets or

•Them needing rehab or to be put in a mental health facility which cost tax payers more in taxes. 

Ending criminal records would:

•Give back job opportunities to the formerly incarcerated allowing them to

•Provide for themselves and their families

•It will open better housing for those who were once convicted.

•Give the formerly incarcerated new hope.

•Reduce those on drugs and will reduce the need for rehab centers.

•We will have less people coming down with phycological disorders from chronic drug use which often needs to be treated in a mental health institution.

•And ultimately we will shrink the over population of our prision systems, reduce recidivism rates and in the long run this will save tax payers and our government billions of dollars per year.

This model is the same one currently working in Norway who has a prison population of only 60 out of every 1,000 people compared to America's 660 per 1,000 people. Norway has one of the smallest prison populations as well as recidivism rates in the world. Not only do they have one of the smallest prison populations but they actually speak to their inmates and still treat them with respect, they help them find good housing, good jobs and access to public services and mental help for those with disabilities further reducing the over all crime rate and only law enforcement officers there can see their criminal record which keeps the door way to employment open for those formerly convicted keeping crime low.

Let's start a movement. 

It's time to end public criminal records.