We are facing an epidemic of people that are unemployed, on welfare or struggling to secure employment because of the economy. Many law abiding citizens and college educated people face these problems today, but compound this with a criminal history.
We are protected from "double jeopardy"; however, it is practically a life sentence when labeled with a criminal history. It is almost impossible to secure gainful employment. The consequences for an individual impacts the entire family. Its implications unfairly trickle down. In one breath we complain about the "revolving door" and about people that are on welfare, but in the next we take away their ability to be self-sufficient.
The records should be automatically sealed to the public and only available to law enforcement.