posted on Apr, 18 2008 @ 12:08 AM
I will start this out by stating that I have a drug related felony on my record. It was a possession charge from when I was picked up at around the
age of 19. I was convicted at age 20, and am now age 27. I have not done any drugs or done anything to get me into trouble since. I was not really a
"troubled" youth, just made some bad decisions.
7 years later, a completely different person now, and yet I still have that stain on my record haunt me. Trying to get an apartment is a frustrating
event. Financial aid for school or scholarships usually become a waste of paper. Sometimes I feel as though I am a second class citizen. Filling out
job applications can also be embarresing, especially when you have to explain why you were convicted.
Now, the reason I am posting this is two fold. One, I would like to find out what other people think of someone with a felony? Do you have any
prejudice, or do you think less of a person with that type of record? Do you feel that the punishment fits the crime? Should a person be judged by
that single event for so long after it happens?
Secondly, do you feel as though there is a government or political conspiracy to weed out citizens that commit crimes? Is there an elitist agenda that
only wants the "cream of the crop" to succeed?
I will end this by stating that I realize that some people are going to immediately want to say "Don't wanna do the time, do not do the crime" or
"You should have thought about that before you did it". To those people, I will say that those are fair things to say. You are right. The simple
truth is that even though those things are correct, they do not change the fact that it cannot be changed now.
I hold a full time job, am in school for a bachelor's degree in Electrical Engineering, and am just a normal tax-paying American.
Thanks for your time.