Blatant injustice

[trenton]

I would like to discuss my least favorite thing about the criminal justice system. It seems ludicrously unfair.

It has to do with labels like 'felon' or 'sex offender.' When a person is found guilty of a crime they might have these labels put on them. Sometimes a person is later found innocent and their criminal record may be expunged. However, the label cannot be removed causing innocent people to live the rest of their lives labeled a felon or a sex offender.

Being registered like this makes it hard to get a job because although you are innocent the label will always implicate you. To me it seems like a reason to commit suicide if I have to live the rest of my life as if I am a felon or a sex offender and people will constantly treat me harshly throughout the rest of my life for something I never did.

I bring this up because my friend is a registered sex offender. He claims it was a case of mistaken identity, but he had to go to jail anyway. I find it unfair that a person has to carry the label 'sex offender' forever even in cases of mistaken identity because you look similar to someone who did commit the crime.

Furthermore, anger damns the innocent. Although the natural reaction to a false rape accusation might be to get angry and defensive, the appearance of being belligerent will make people think you are guilty anyway. Being calm is seen as a sign of innocence even though the opposite is often true. Even professionals mix this up.

The solution seems obvious to me. Innocent people who have their records expunged should also have the label expunged. Why is this simple fix so difficult? What am I missing? Is there something I don't understand? This just seems completely stupid that our society treats innocent people like trash and not giving them a chance to defend themselves.

Even if someone was guilty in the past, maybe they could change through rehabilitation. If someone carries a label like that forever, then that could easily serve to mess them up even more leading to recitivism. I profoundly disagree with this permanent punishment. Jail or prison is one thing, but to live the rest of your life like this is asinine. I would rather die than carry a label like these for the rest of my life.