Pubdate: Tue, 29 Mar 2005 Source: Lethbridge Herald (CN AB) Copyright: 2005 The Lethbridge Herald Contact: http://www.mysouthernalberta.com/leth/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/239 WHEN IS DEBT TO SOCIETY PAID IN FULL? If you can't do the time, don't do the crime. In other words, actions have consequences so think twice before you break the law. Wise words. In theory, such words should weigh heavily on the minds of Canadians who would all be deterred from taking the risk of carrying an illicit drug or weapon or acting on an impulse of violence or greed. But as we all know, many crimes are carried out without thinking of consequence, which only sinks in after the fact. So the question is whether the criminal should be haunted by his actions even after he/she has repaid a debt to society. That debt may involve time behind bars, community service, fines or restitution. But as some convicted men and women discover, having a criminal past - -- even a single conviction decades earlier -- can be a lifelong debt on its own, costing them jobs and opportunities because potential employers discover they have a record and turn them away as damaged goods. Whether those records are the minor drug convictions that speak to a misspent youth or violent crimes, even murder or pedophilia, is left to the imagination. Most standard background checks will reveal a criminal record, but not details of the crime. For those who commit crimes in their youth, learn from their mistakes and lead exemplary lives from there on, a criminal record can be a penalty for life. Of course, there is always the potential for a pardon. Since 1970, 330,000 Canadians have been pardoned, meaning their criminal records are removed from the Canadian Police Information Centre and may not be disclosed without permission from the federal Solicitor General. Applicants must have fulfilled their sentence obligatioins and have been clean for at least three years for summary convictions and five years for indictable offences. It does not wipe the record clean, but it can keep it from hanging over a person's life. A pardon also won't guarantee entry or visa privileges to another country. With heightened security concerns to the United States post-9/11, a record can put quite a crimp into a Canadian's travel plans. And sex offenders' records may be accessible despite a pardon if they apply to work with children or other vulnerable groups. As well, a pardon isn't forever. It can be revoked if the person is convicted again. According to a Canadian Press story, one in 10 Canadians has a criminal record and about 20,000 a year apply for pardon. It costs a $50 processing fee. In 2002-03 the National Parole Board processed 17,000 pardon applications and accepted 90 per cent of them. Perhaps the federal government should reconsider this process, streamlining pardons for minor offences followed by decades of clean living, which theoretically would free up resources for the tougher task of determining who deserves early release and keeping tabs on those convicts heading back into society. If nothing else, the process of pardoning people for past misdeeds should make us think twice about just how much stock we put in police record checks and just how fair it is to forever judge the individual for activities in the past for which they have already paid a price. - --- MAP posted-by: Derek