In today's job market, having a criminal record is a death warrant. Even if that criminal record is for a misdemeanor offense that is twenty years old.
Employers shy away from well qualified applicants that have a mark on their background, making life that much more difficult for people that have turned their lives away from crime to afford to feed their families.
It is for that reason that we the people of the United States of America petition our lawmakers to stop punishing those who have made mistakes in the distant past and gone on to lead productive lives as law abiding citizens. Is that not, after all, what rehabilitation is all about?
Please, stop reporting misdemeanor offenses in FBI database searches after ten years for non-law enforcement related purposes.