A person’s whole life should not be defined by their worst mistake. The holidays are a season of gratitude, forgiveness, and giving — and those values are at the core of the Clean Slate movement.

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There is no archetype of a person living with a record. Americans of all different races, genders, socio-economic statuses, and zip codes have had some kind of contact with the legal system that left them burdened with a record.

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Records can create roadblocks that make rebuilding a person’s life harder than it needs to be. Living with a record should not mean living in a continuum of incarceration and poverty.

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Everyone in America should have a fair opportunity to make a living, take care of their families, and participate in their communities. Even when people make mistakes or commit crimes, if they have done their time and now live crime-free, they deserve a second chance at freedom and opportunity.

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Even if you don’t have a record, a third of Americans do. So, chances are, someone you care about is living with the burden of a record. As you celebrate the holidays this season, consider the gift that a second chance would be for those folks.

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New years are all about new beginnings: a fresh start on a fitness plan, a clean slate on a to-do list, another chance at a better year ahead. Normalizing fresh starts, second chances, and new beginnings in the context of the Clean Slate movement is a resolution we can all accomplish together.

Between 70 million and 100 million Americans—1 in 3—now have some type of arrest or conviction record.

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Nearly half of all U.S. children now have at least one parent with a record.

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Nearly 9 in 10 employers, 4 in 5 landlords, and 3 in 5 colleges use background checks to screen applicants.

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Applicants with a record are half as likely as other job seekers to get a callback from an employer.

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There are more than 44,000 state and federal regulatory restrictions that limit individuals with conviction and non-conviction records from accessing employment, occupational licensing, housing, public benefits, voting, education, and other opportunities.

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Shutting people out of the labor market due to arrest and conviction records costs the U.S. economy an estimated $78-87 billion per year in lost GDP.

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On average, the wages of people who receive expungements increase by more than 20 percent just one year after a record has been cleared.

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Clean Slate policies have broad bipartisan support. 70 percent of Americans support Clean Slate policies—including 66 percent of Republicans and 75 percent of Democrats.

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Since its inception, the Clean Slate Initiative has helped pass legislation that provides a path for:

• 2.3 million people to have at least one conviction or non-conviction cleared.

• 7.3 million conviction and non-conviction cases to be cleared.

• 2 million people to receive full record clearance.

Tens of millions of people—including many who have never been convicted—are saddled with arrest or criminal records that block their access to jobs, housing, education, starting a business, or participating fully in social and civic community life.

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When our loved ones, friends, neighbors, and community members are barred from fully participating in society and our economy, we all lose out. We can do better. A record should never be a life sentence to poverty, exclusion, and stigma.

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The Clean Slate policy model empowers states to automatically seal or expunge qualifying records for people who remain crime-free for a set period of time.

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In most states, record clearance is only possible through a time-intensive and costly petition-based process, which is inaccessible for many working people who are eligible for relief.

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Automating the expungement process creates greater equity, consistency, and cost-effectiveness through a streamlined process that applies to all eligible records – regardless of a person’s race or wealth. We should not have a two-tiered system of justice where the wealthy have access to opportunities and working families are left behind.

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Eligibility for expungement doesn’t always mean access to expungement — that’s why the Clean Slate Initiative model also works to expand eligibility within state statutes so that more people can experience the second chance that comes from an expunged record.

Clean Slate Improves Public Safety

Individuals should be held accountable in a way that ensures the harm caused does not occur again. However, holding a person's past over their head does not deter future crime; instead, stigmatizing individuals with records decreases public safety by limiting opportunities for working people and their families.

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Once individuals have been crime-free for a few years, they have reached what researchers call the "point of redemption," meaning the person is no more likely than anyone in the general population to commit a crime. There is broad bipartisan support for clearing records after the “point of redemption” as a means to increase public safety.

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A research study done by Michigan Law found that those who are able to obtain expungements have very little risk of recidivism. People are much less likely to reoffend if they are able to get a job, afford decent housing, get an education, and take care of their families.

Clean Slate Supports Families and Personal Responsibility

Most people living with a record are willing to put in the hard work to rebuild their lives, but barriers to education, employment, housing, credit, and other opportunities can make their journey seem impossible.

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When a parent cannot clear their record, their children bear the consequences, too. Nearly half of the children in the United States have a parent with some kind of record, which impacts family stability. Adverse long-term effects for innocent children who have parents with records range from poor performance in school to hindered cognitive development.

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Clean slate record clearing policies support families and promote personal responsibility. A cleared record leads to more opportunities for people to obtain financial security, employment security, and a sense of dignity and purpose. Indeed, after a person's record is cleared, research proposes their income rises by about 22 percent.

Clean Slate Advances Limited Government

Clean slate policies can bypass harmful governmental barriers to economic participation by clearing records. A limited, effective government protects the life and liberty of its citizens without creating excessive regulations, interference, or taxes. However, most record-clearing processes are highly burdensome.

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Many states also ban people with certain records from obtaining occupational licenses. Clean slate policies help reverse some issues by automating expungement and eliminating the unchecked inefficiency of the current process.

Clean Slate Facilitates Workforce Development

Having a record shouldn’t mean that you can’t find stable employment with a living wage, but far too often, that’s exactly what happens. Record clearance means more access to jobs for people who are willing to work, but are often denied good opportunities for employment.

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Amid a labor shortage and the great resignation, the American workforce needs development and revitalization. Clean Slate policies can benefit employers by expanding the applicant pool of individuals who are qualified to work. Recent research found that a year after record clearance, people are 11 percent more likely to be employed and earn 22 percent higher wages.