RALEIGH, N.C. — A second chance can seem far out of reach for some people with criminal records.
"You can't get a job, you can't get food stamps, or even a house in my name, an apartment," Gemini Boyd told WCNC Charlotte's Tradesha Woodard.
Boyd understands firsthand the obstacles that come with having a criminal record. These obstacles can become lifetime barriers for people trying to move forward.
In 2020, the "Second Chances Act" went into effect, which automatically expunged certain dismissals or not-guilty verdicts.
The bipartisan 2020 law in part directed state officials to develop a process under which criminal charges that are dismissed or that result in “not guilty" verdicts or “not responsible” findings are deleted from a person's record without a formal request.
The changes were within a broader “second chance” movement in North Carolina and nationwide that has allowed people with some criminal convictions already to ask to get their records removed, helping them avoid obstacles to obtaining employment or housing.
"It was ensuring that a lot more people had access to the release so that they will be able to get back on their feet," Laura Webb, with the North Carolina Justice Center, said. "When it was running, about 400,000 cases were expunged."
The automated system experienced lots of challenges and became overwhelmed by the number of cases coming in and was put on pause for two years.
"All the stakeholders, district attorneys, and clerks sat down and thought through the problems and came up with recommendations," Webb said.
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The state Senate unanimously approved a bill last year that carries out the group recommendations and would have restarted the automatic process last Dec. 1. But the House judiciary committee voted in May to change that Senate bill by repealing the automatic expunctions altogether.
Webb said the measure as it is now is a broken promise.
"We haven’t even tried to fix this, we're going to keep fighting."
Due to the language changes of the bill in the House, both the Senate and the House will have to go back to the conference committee where they will have to come to an agreement.
Contact Tradesha Woodard at twoodard1@wcnc.com and follow her on Facebook, X and Instagram.