Is your deferred criminal case really removed from public eye?

You were young and made a mistake. Your defense attorney told you about a great first time offenders plea that will allow you to keep your record from the publics eye. That was music to your ears. You take the plea and finish the program. Whew. Now a few years later, you have graduated from college with a Criminal Justice degree. You want to put your experience and education to use and now you are applying to work for the Michigan Department of Corrections. You feel confident about your grades, references and know that you have a clean criminal history thanks to the plea agreement you took. Then you receive a call from the Human Resources Department. They inform you that because you were not truthful on your application and disclosed your criminal past, you are no longer a viable candidate. You plead that the matter is not a conviction and was not supposed to be on your record, but to no avail, you are denied employment. How could this have happened you wonder. You thought your records were closed. Had you applied prior to January 1, 2014, you would have been correct, but there were changes to the law that now creates additional collateral consequences for you. 

Prior to January 1, 2014, individuals sentenced under many first time offender statutes would have their crime hidden from the publics view with the exception of the courts, the prosecutors office and law enforcement. This ensured individuals that there mistake would not haunt them in their future employment  and educational endeavors. It also ensures that your past crime does not count against you in sentencing in a future crime as it is not considered a criminal conviction. Now the law has been expanded to include the Michigan Department of Corrections. This expansion of the law may seem small but it could have a grave impact as evidenced in the scenario above. Additionally, with this change, one must ponder how much further will the State go in expanding the view of the “hidden” record. As it stands now, the dismissed crime is hidden from law enforcement from other states, but that coud be the next protection removed. What prevents the State legislature from expanding the visibility of this hidden case to law enforcement, department of corrections, courts and prosecutors of other States. If that expansion takes place, is it really removed from the publics eye? If you find yourself in a matter where one of these special deferred pleas are available to you, truly ponder if this collateral consequence will cause a ripple in what appears to be calm waters. Talk to your attorney about what plans you have for your life and whether or not the plea is truly the best thing for you. In the end, it might be, but knowing all of the consequences prior to your decision is critical to protecting your future.  

Here is the link to the legislation.