Roberts Wilson, P.A. Injury Lawyers

Wow! Boating accidents soared during the pandemic! Please Boat safely!

This afternoon I got a call from a fellow Mississippian, a stranger to me, who just completed 14 years of probation for 2 felony drug possession charges. He got... the good news that he was finally done with probation, then the bad news that he owes $3200 in fees and fines and can’t have his felony record expunged until he pays it. But for 14 years he hasn’t been able to find a decent job because of that felony. Most recently he had a short-term job paying $400/week. He found my phone number on a newspaper article I had written a couple years ago that he ran across today. I took notes the whole time he was sharing his story and got his permission to share them. This is a glimpse into just one person’s experience: I am an able-bodied person who needs to work and take care of his family. I’ve never been to prison, I’ve been free my whole life, thank God. But I’ve been on parole almost 15 years, and I have a felony on my record. I made mistakes in my past but I don’t think I should be punished forever. When I had kids I settled down and started being a parent. My oldest just joined the military, I’m so proud of her. I’ve been trying to be an inspiration for them. I have 4 kids that I’m trying to provide for. This is depressing not having a decent job and not taking care of your family. I’m almost 40 years old and I still got this stuff on my background. It doesn’t make sense to hinder somebody’s life for this many years for this stuff. As soon as I try to find me a decent-paying job, I’m always getting turned down over a non-violent drug possession charge. I want to be able to go to a job knowing that my background is clear so that I don’t have a drug charge or felony that’s going to stop me from getting this job. I almost got a job being the maintenance man for a company. I passed everything until they did the background check. When you’re out in the workplace, you form a different substance of life. I don’t want to go into my 40s and be still stuck on nothing. I want to make up some ground for my kids. My kids love sports, but I can’t ever afford to get my kids on a sports team. I can get the felony off my record once I pay the fines, but how the heck can I pay off these fines when I can’t find a decent job? I’m not asking for a handout or a gimme. Just give me a second chance. I want my life back. I just want my life back. He told me that he had worked at the chicken houses because they’re the only people that will hire people like us. People like us. He’s far from alone. 1 in 13 Mississippians has a felony. People like us are our neighbors, our workforce, the fathers and mothers of our next generation. Who’s winning here? He’s not. His kids aren’t. Employers aren’t. The whole community suffers when we have so many people unable to thrive. We chose to cripple our workforce like this. Are we willing to consider a different choice? One of the last things he said, as I agreed with him that we need to change how we approach situations like his, was, Let’s do this for Mississippians. Yes, let’s! All of us benefit when we let more people thrive.