Our criminal justice system works hard to convict those that have committed crimes, but have you ever thought about what happens to those people that serve their time and want to move on from their past and live a productive life?

People are arrested everyday and when it happens, they have no idea how the impact of that arrest can affect them for years to come. Take the 2010 case of a man from Chicago, Illinois, who applied for a job as a boiler-room engineer, but was turned down because of his criminal record. He had been convicted of a drug felony in 1985 for which he received probation. The man, turned his life around, and hasn't been in trouble with the law since the conviction. He is now a single dad of two sons, and can't get a job.

Today, many companies perform a background check on prospective employees and for the majority of the population, this isn't a big deal. But, with the availability of these records, it has meant that millions of Americans, who may have served probation or parole, will continue to pay a price long after the crime.

According to the American Bar Association, more than two thirds of states allow hiring and professional licensing decisions to be made on the basis of an arrest alone. It is understandable that employers want to protect themselves from potential risk, but there needs to be a better balance.

Some advocates are proposing that rules that ban certain licensing and jobs be replaced by rules that have an expiration date for certain criminal records. It's unreasonable to think that someone is penalized for life for a single arrest or conviction that happened more than 20 years ago.

In other states, they are placing limits on the availability of old criminal records. For example, in May 2012, Massachusetts employers will have limited access to information about convictions. Misdemeanors will be the last five years, while felonies will go back ten years. This law will also protect employers from liability lawsuits if someone they hire commits another offense.

This law will help those people that have a criminal record and are trying to get a job. In the case of the Chicago man, a story in the Chicago Tribune, helped convince the employer that they should hire him and he was offered the job.

Source: The New York Times, "Paying a Price, Long After the Crime," Jan. 9, 2012