A criminal record is something we’ve all heard of. It’s a police record of one’s past criminal convictions. Having one of these can negatively affect our lives in a variety of ways.
Does a Juvenile Crime Count?
Sadly, even though we may be stupid and make mistakes when we’re young, we can pay for those mistakes our entire life long. Fortunately, depending on the conviction and if you don’t repeat it, there’s a rehabilitation program that will mark that the conviction is spent once completed.
How it Affects Your Employment
This area isn’t always easy for us to predict. A relatively large portion of this is how people react to you spending time behind bars. Some may discriminate only against certain crimes, while others discriminate against the mere notion of a record.
There also is the risk of employment being terminated with or without any cause. If terminated with a reason, you may lose your severance package. Having a criminal record puts you at risk to be used by others.
The Jobs You’ll Never Be Able to Get
These are sometimes specific to the type of crime you’ve been convicted with and have on record. It won’t be easy to get a job because the background check will reveal that you’ve been incarcerated.
A severe or violent conviction will prevent you from becoming a teacher; other convictions that prevent this can include pedophilia and sex offenses. This also extends itself into other forms of childcare; after all, parents don’t want someone who has a criminal record watching their children.
One thing we never see is a convicted criminal becoming a police officer, and this makes a lot of sense. Sadly it’s hard for people to change, and the police prefer to keep out any potential risks or threats.
How Do I Avoid Getting One?
Well, we all know the general laws and the best is to not break the laws. However, we can quickly be wrongfully convicted of a crime, and this can be marked on a record that affects our lives.
If you’re unfairly judged, you can appeal to have the case reviewed by a higher court. Due to the complexity of the proceedings, it is virtually inevitable that the Judge, defense attorney, and prosecutor will make mistakes during a trial. By appealing the charge could be expunged from your record.
Is This the End?
No, Having been arrested may be bad, but some good people see past your mistakes, and you can always try to get your record expunged, which will significantly lessen the effects from being convicted.
